A PCB 'Fix' at Wilmington School Actually Drives Levels Higher

When elevated levels of airborne PCBs were found in several rooms at Twin Valley Elementary School in late March, state officials thought that installing carbon air filtration units would reduce the level of toxic chemicals.

Filters were placed in the affected rooms, and contractors hired by the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation retested the air for PCBs in mid-April.

The results, which came back last week, were disheartening. Instead of finding lower PCB levels, the second round of testing revealed significantly higher levels in every room retested. In the gym, for example, the first round of testing showed a concentration of 570 nanograms per cubic meter of airborne PCBs; the second round measured 1,050 nanograms per cubic meter. In the library, PCB concentrations jumped from 400 to 710 nanograms, and in the nurse's office, they went from 90 to 156 nanograms.

Twin Valley principal Rebecca Fillion said state officials believe there could be a PCB source in the school's HVAC system, which was running at full capacity during the retesting.

In a letter to the school community on April 28, Fillion wrote that the results were "unexpected" and the news was "difficult ... to receive during these last important weeks of school."

The situation at the Wilmington school illustrates the complexity of Vermont's first-in-the-country initiative to test hundreds of schools for PCBs. The chemicals, manufactured by agrochemical company Monsanto until 1979, are known to pose numerous health risks to humans.

The Vermont legislature required the statewide testing in 2021. So far, more than one-third of several dozen schools tested have had PCB levels that require further action. That action — which entails rooting out the source of PCBs and removing it or sealing it off — has proven to be labor-intensive, costly, and imprecise. Twin Valley has already shelled out more than $18,000 for the air filters, according to Fillion.

The unknowns about the testing program — including costs and how disruptive it may be to learning — prompted some lawmakers to introduce a bill to pause the initiative. Doing so would allow the state to better align the testing with Vermont's broader school construction priorities, the lawmakers say. The House passed the measure in March, and it's now before the Senate.

But key leaders in that chamber — including Senate Education Committee chair Brian Campion (D-Bennington) and Sen. Philip Baruth (D/P-Chittenden-Central) — are opposed to a testing pause because of the potential health risks the chemicals pose for students and staff.

Last week, multiple witnesses told the Senate Education Committee that the PCB testing program should continue full steam ahead. In submitted testimony, former Vermont health commissioner Dr. Harry Chen said the program "is doing what it was intended to do — detect and address PCBs in our schools."

"Testing provides the data for action; it is a vital step we shouldn't delay," Chen wrote in his testimony. "The adage that what we don't know won't hurt us simply does not apply when it comes to toxins in our environment."

Chen's opinion is in line with the current health commissioner, Dr. Mark Levine, who testified before the Senate several weeks ago.

Matt Chapman, director of the DEC's Waste Management and Prevention Division, told senators last week that the  testing program "has been developed thoughtfully and in consultation with national experts and Vermont school officials."

He said the state "has made significant efforts to be adaptive and flexible to school concerns while protecting health."

Twin Valley is taking advantage of that flexibility. Though multiple rooms are considered unusable under state guidance, the school plans to continue to use them for the remaining few weeks of the school year, principal Fillion said in her letter.

"Since the health risk of PCBs is based on time and amount of exposure, this limited use protects health of those in the building for this time period," Fillion wrote to families.

The school has also turned off the HVAC systems serving the gym, library and front offices and is keeping the windows open when possible.

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Bio:
Alison is the former managing editor at Kids VT, Seven Days' parenting publication and writes about education for Seven Days.