Today, New York Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Joseph Crowley applauded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for issuing new guidelines for the remediation and safe disposal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from light ballasts in school buildings.  The guidelines are in response to mounting evidence that thousands of public schools nationwide – including hundreds of schools in New York City – are likely contaminated by PCBs, which can pose serious cumulative health risks to students, teachers and staff.  Nadler and Crowley, along with Rep. José Serrano, have led efforts to initiate the comprehensive testing and remediation of the chemicals from our schools, and, earlier this month, jointly introduced the Safe Schools, Healthy Kids Act to help provide funding for school PCBs cleanup.  In October, they also launched efforts within New York’s congressional delegation to call on the EPA to increase its oversight of PCB mitigation in New York’s schools.

Nadler and Crowley issued the following joint statement:

“The EPA’s new guidelines for the remediation of PCB-laden light ballasts in our schools represent a timely and welcome step.  In New York City, PCB-contamination is alarmingly widespread and threatens the health of potentially hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren.  We welcome these guidelines for the aggressive and comprehensive abatement of light ballasts under the oversight of the EPA, and we renew our call on New York City’s Department of Education to step up its testing and remediation program.  The EPA has accumulated considerable experience and insight into the PCB problem nationwide and is best equipped to instruct cities and jurisdictions on the preferred courses of action.  We applaud EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson for her leadership in taking this bold step, and thank Region 2 Director Judith Enck for her critical work on this issue.  We will continue to work with the EPA, the City of New York, our colleagues in government, and, most critically, the schools and communities affected by PCB-contamination as we proceed in ridding our schools of noxious chemicals.”

PCBs, chemicals banned by Congress in 1978, were once commonly used in the construction of public schools and other facilities.  They can still be found in light ballasts and construction caulk in thousands of buildings nationwide, and, through prolonged exposure, can pose serious health risks to schoolchildren and others.  In 2008, through the intervention of elected officials and advocates, the City of New York entered into an agreement with the EPA to conduct a pilot study to begin to address the presence of PCBs in potentially over 700 New York City schools.  The EPA’s new guidelines will help direct cities like to New York to more efficiently and promptly remove contaminated light ballasts and protect schoolchildren.

For more information on PCBs and the EPA’s new guidelines: https://www.epa.gov/pcb

For the EPA’s PCBs Hotline: 1-888-835-5372