The Department of Education has finally agreed to speed its replacement of light fixtures laden with cancer-causing PCBs that threaten the health and safety of students and staff in 650 city schools.
The announcement of the speed-up came the day after nine students and two teachers from PS 123 in Harlem wound up in the hospital on May 8 after a light fixture containing PCBs started smoking and forced the evacuation of almost 1,000 students from the school. That incident came just days after dangerous PCB oil dripped from a light fixture onto the floor of a kindergarten classroom at PS 170 in Brooklyn on May 3.
For years, the DOE ignored mounting pressure from outraged parents, the UFT and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to expedite its plan to replace the antiquated fluorescent fixtures by 2021. The DOE clung to its position that it was too costly to replace the fixtures any faster even as the number of hazardous incidents mounted, a federal lawsuit filed by parents was filed, and UFT officials and health and safety advocates warned of the dangers in testimony and at press conferences.
Finally, on May 8, city officials released a statement saying the city could complete the job “well before the previously announced timetable of 2021.” It said it couldn’t elaborate, citing the lawsuit.
“The replacement can’t happen soon enough,” said UFT Health and Safety Director Christine Proctor. “Every day these aging, ticking time bombs remain in place, the more likely the PCB ballasts will fail, exposing students and staff to PCBs. That’s why the UFT, together with parents, advocates and elected officials, has repeatedly called on the city to accelerate its 10-year plan.”
Proctor said the union is calling on the DOE to complete the work in two years.
Meanwhile, the judge in the lawsuit brought by parents demanding a speedier replacement plan has charged the city with “insouciant foot-dragging.”
The light fixtures with PCBs were installed in schools beginning in the 1950s. Congress banned the use of PCBs in 1977. As of this May, 236 school buildings, housing 416 schools, had reported leaking fixtures.
“The longer these aging fixtures remain in place the more such incidents will increase,” said Proctor, noting that the UFT is aware of 80 cases of leaking, smoking or burning fixtures since September 2012.
To date, the DOE has completed light fixture replacements at 96 buildings with work in progress in another 165 buildings. That leaves students and staff in 655 schools with the old fixtures.
The UFT will continue to monitor the replacement work.