As school starts we wanted to update the community on what we know about the soil vapor intrusion situation in our annex (gym) building at Carroll Street.
The D.E.C. completed their pilot test of the planned mitigation system between Aug. 19 and Aug 26. They are analyzing the data and will share the results with administration when they have them, and we will ask for an update as soon as possible.
In the meantime, some parents on the Environmental Concerns and Advocacy Committee met last week with Dr. Joseph Allen, a leading expert in the field of indoor air quality and founder of the "Healthy Buildings" program at Harvard, to get his advice on the soil vapor situation at TCS. He was provided with the Soil Vapor Intrusion report and while he was only able to take a quick look at the results and recommended that we further analyze the report, his immediate reaction was that he wouldn't pull his children from the school based on the report, but would push for improvements, including mitigation and monitoring.
He recommended that we focus on three areas in approaching the situation:
- Learn how to read the report. Utilizing EPA's RSL Calculator, we can review the report and compare the levels against different metrics in their guide. He clarified that EPA's guidelines do take into consideration the most vulnerable population and when cancer risk is being discussed, the risk is typically 1-in-1 million.
- Mitigation. He stated that the Subslab Depressurization System the D.E.C. is testing can be quite effective in mitigating the vapors. We also discussed the interim solutions that the Department of Education and UFT have initiated (improvements to the HVAC system in the Annex basement and additional air conditioners and exhaust fans in the gym). He agreed that these measures will increase ventilation in the classrooms which is key. He also agrees with UFT's guidance to keep all windows closed to allow the HVAC system to optimally perform as ventilation from open windows is too erratic to be a reliable source for ventilation. This contradicts DOH's recommendation to open windows for ventilation in the Annex building.
- Monitor. He recommended placing a TVOC (total volatile organic compound) monitor in each classroom in the Annex as well as a few in the Main building. While a CO2 monitor can tell you about the ventilation in the room, a TVOC monitor can provide additional data on VOC levels in the classroom. It is important to first establish a baseline for each classroom which can be done by utilizing the CO2 Concentration Calculator. The monitors will alert us if the HVAC system or the Subslab Depressurization System is not working properly. He stressed that our goal is not to reach 0 VOCs since that's impossible as VOCs are a part of our everyday life but rather to ensure that VOCs are not measuring at a continuously high level.
We will be sharing these findings with Admin and will discuss purchasing air quality monitors that include particulate matter (PM2.5) and TVOC readings with the PTA Board. We wanted to share what we learned from our meeting with Dr. Allen as the school year starts.
To provide assistance on this project (perhaps you have expertise or know a chemist or public health specialist?) please join the Konstella social group “Carroll Street Environmental Concerns” if you haven’t already.
The D.E.C. and D.O.H. are holding a community meeting on Sept. 19 in the gym from 7 - 9 pm.
The meeting is for the entire SVI project, but state officials will be on hand to answer questions so a large contingent of school parents will only help show how concerned we are to get this fixed.
Thank you,
The ECAC