How many years does it take New York City to change light bulbs in school buildings?
Too many, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...
In February the Bloomberg administration announced they would allocate $702 million to replace light fixtures leaking toxic chemicals, known as PCBs in approximately 800 school buildings, as part of a broader energy efficiency effort over the next 10 years.
Last week however, many members of the City Council as well as the EPA rejected this 10 year plan, calling for a time frame of two to three years.
“Ten years is too long,” said Judith Enck, the EPA's regional administrator in New York.
“From our inspections, we’ve found that there’s a problem with leaking light ballasts, and I’d be concerned with the problem lingering for a long period of time.”
Lighting ballasts are current-regulating devices in fluorescent lights made with oil containing PCBs.
PCBs — or polychlorinated biphenyls — do not pose an immediate health risk, however long-term exposure has been linked to cancer, as well as a variety of other adverse health effects on the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.
PCBs were domestically manufactured from 1929 until their manufacture was banned in 1979...
“This is something that has brought the Council together,” said Julissa Ferreras, a councilwoman from Corona, Queens.
“This is a health hazard.”
The first buildings to be addressed would be those with visually apparent leaks and the oldest elementary schools.
Since January, the city’s Department of Education has asked custodians to inspect old light fixtures in their schools and report any leaks so that the lights are removed.
“We don’t think that’s robust enough,” said Enck.
One example Enck gave was custodial staffs reported leaking ballasts at only 26 schools in a one-month period and missed Public School 306 in Brooklyn, where an EPA spot inspection found that of 31 samples taken from classrooms, 25 had some of the highest PCB levels detected yet above the federal regulatory limit.
“That school didn’t appear on the list of schools that janitors reported as a problem. I’m not sure they’re looking closely enough.”
Barbara Morgan, a spokeswoman for the Department of Education, said the city maintains its plan is “a fiscally responsible approach to addressing the issue of PCBs in our schools.”
“The plan can be accomplished without disrupting student learning,” she said in a statement.
“And it will generate significant energy savings for the city and taxpayers in the long run.”
At this time, it is unclear what the next course of action will be.
Until Next Time,
Angela Guss
Comment 
Subscribe to