U.S. EPA OFFICIALS TO ATTEND KAPLOWITZ’ NEXT-IN-A-SERIES OF MEETINGS ON PCB CONTAMINATION IN SCHOOLS
Meeting to take place Wednesday, August 9th at 3pm in White Plains FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Michael B. Kaplowitz |
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Westchester County Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz (D-I-WF, Somers), will be hosting his 3rd-in-a-series of meetings regarding the potentially harmful effects of PCB-laden caulk and other industrial materials, at 3pm this Wednesday, August 9th, at a meeting of the Environment & Energy Committee. U.S. EPA officials will be in attendance.
“Now that PCB contamination is being discovered in more and more schools, we need to take a closer look and step up our efforts to get the EPA to appropriately regulate testing and remediation,” said Kaplowitz.
PCBs, or Polychlorinated Biphenyls, have been demonstrated to cause a variety of adverse health effects. They were used in the manufacturing of electrical transformers, hydraulic equipment, caulk and other industrial sealants due to their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulating properties, until 1976 when Congress enacted the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) that prohibited the manufacturing, processing, and distribution in commerce of PCBs.
According to Kaplowitz, the immediate past chair of the Environment (& Health) Committee, his initial investigation began in August of 2005 on the heels of the discovery of PCBs in window caulking at the French Hill Elementary School in Yorktown. Dr. Daniel Lefkowitz, whose son attends the school, made the initial discovery. At his last meeting, Kaplowitz and Committee chair Thomas J. Abinanti (D-I-WF, Greenburgh) created the “PCB Taskforce”, naming Lefkowitz as chair.
In addition to Dr. Lefkowitz, others scheduled to attend tomorrow’s meeting are several members of the PCB Taskforce, Director of Facilities for the Yorktown Central School District Dennis Verboys and the District’s PCB Consultant Stu Bassell.
Gregory Carmichael, the County’s Deputy Health Commissioner, will also be in attendance.
The press and the public are encouraged to attend.
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