[CPEO-BIF] Information Technology High School (NY)

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

A Summary of Environmental Concerns Regarding Contamination at 
Information Technology High School (Q502)
21-16 44 Road, Long Island City
Queens, New York 11101

Lenny Siegel
Center for Public Environmental Oversight

Peter M. Strauss
Peter M. Strauss & Associates

On Behalf of
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest

October 15, 2007

INTRODUCTION

[For the entire eight-page, 180K PDF version this report, go to 
http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/InfoTech.pdf]
On September 17, Fox 5 News ran a story about increased levels of 
contamination found beneath the Information Technology High School 
("Info Tech") in Queens, New York. The report raised concerns about the 
school's safety, noting that Info Tech is housed within a former metal 
plating factory leased by the Department of Education in 2003 for use as 
an educational facility. This summary seeks to inform the affected 
school community about environmental concerns at conditions at Info 
Tech, and we offer  recommendations for improving community 
understanding and oversight not only at Info Tech, but in the 
surrounding area and at other toxic school sites in New York City.
Lenny Siegel, of the Center for Public Environmental Oversight, and 
Peter Strauss of Peter M. Strauss & Associates have provided New York 
Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) and their community clients with 
environmental consultation around the siting of schools on contaminated 
properties in the past. We were asked by NYLPI Staff Attorney David 
Palmer to provide a brief analysis of our concerns at the site, 
including commentary on the two air quality reports detailing the 
results of testing conducted inside Info Tech on September 5 and 
September 22-25, 2007. We have also reviewed documents provided to Mr. 
Palmer by Fox 5 reporter Mary Garofalo and used in her report. These 
documents include quarterly monitoring reports retrieved from the 
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) through a Freedom of 
Information Law request.  Finally, we have discussed the site with the 
DEC project manager.
This analysis has been created on a pro bono basis for NYLPI out of our 
concern for the health of the building's current and future occupants. 
We hope to aid NYLPI in its work with the community to ensure the safety 
and integrity of this school site, and in pushing for larger policy 
changes that would create more opportunities for meaningful community 
participation in the school siting process. However, we did not conduct 
a full-scale review of the remedial action work plan and all other 
associated documents.
Still, we do feel comfortable assuring the Info Tech community that the 
site is indeed safe, or at least as safe as any other building in this 
traditionally industrial area. The state-approved remediation has been 
designed to protect school occupants from vapor intrusion, (the 
migration of volatile organic compounds from the subsurface). 
Nevertheless, we believe that steps should be taken to better inform the 
community and involve it in future activities, including long-term 
monitoring and site-management designed to prevent toxic exposures at 
and near the school.  The "Concerns and Recommendations" section begins 
on page 6.


--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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