Health Concerns Resurface At Mt. Greylock RegionalBy Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
07:47PM / Saturday, July 30, 2011 | |
The 50-year-old school is rotting out and school officials are hoping to build a new school in the next few years. |
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The resurfacing of news about past contamination at Mount Greylock Regional High School has triggered growing concerns about health issues at the decaying school now, something school officials hope will lead to solutions.
Perchlorate, a chemical used in fireworks, was discovered in the school's water in 2004; the school shuttled in bottled water for two years until it received a $300,000 grant to drill a new well and build pumps and pipes to the school.
Now, seven years later, some residents are still wondering if that perchlorate has caused cancer - despite no known linkage.
After reading about the issue in the local press, resident and parent Allen Jezouit sent an e-mail out to just about every Williamstown resident he knows in hopes to start a discussion about the future of building a new school.
"We need to get more serious about where our kids are going to school," Jezouit said on Tuesday. "Let's get people talking about this."
Jezouit said he has recieved a lot of response from parents that are now looking to find ways to push for a new school.
For residents to get involved in pushing for a new school is exactly what the School Committee wants. At Thursday's building subcommittee meeting, Jack Hickey, subcommittee chairman, said school officials will soon be writing another statement of interest to submit to the state School Building Authority and wants more residents to help.
Plans for a new school have recently been rehashed after the locker room roof collapsed in 2009 and interrupted the effort. The school's current statement of interest was submitted to the SBA earlier this year but the 50-year-old school failed to rank high enough on the list for a meeting.
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School officials are hoping residents will join the building subcommittee to further develop ideas for building a new school. |
School officials have shifted their focus from a brand-new building to constructing a hybrid school that preserves the most recent $1.5 million in repairs.
That statement also outlines many of the health issues that school currently faces.
School officials often close off and clean classrooms because of mold infestations. In one room, a partition that separated the space into two classrooms had to be removed because of extensive mold. Mold can be found all over the school.
School Committee Chairman Robert Ericson said that while rebuilding the locker rooms, contractors found seven univents that had never been cleaned and were filled with mold. There was so much mold, that ventilation system technicians refused to work in the area until it was cleaned.
"It was filled with dirt, mold, bugs and all sorts of things," Ericson said. "The engineer took one look at it and said they would not install anything in that condition."
Adding to the mold, groundwater bubbles up through the school's floor tiles and the tiles are continuously replaced.
The school's ventilation system also needs to be revamped. After two teachers came down with sarcoidosis in 2005, school officials suspected poor ventilation was the cause. The school closed down the classroom. Currently, the system, particularly in the bathrooms, is still sub par.
From the bathroom, pipes are cracked and dripping sewage into the walls and in the auditorium a fire curtain made of asbestos has been estimated to cost $25,000 to $50,000 to replace.
Meanwhile, perchlorate is not a top worry after the 2006 water system upgrade. The water is still tested on a monthly basis, according to School Committee member David Langston.
The 2011 statement of interest for the state School Building Authority is below.
Mount Greylock_SOI_SBA_2011
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