KAPLOWITZ CONTINUES INVESTIGATION INTO PCB CONTAMINATION IN SCHOOLS
Test results showing contamination at two more schools will be released at
Monday’s Environment & Energy Committee meeting at 3pm
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 19, 2006
Contact: Michael B. Kaplowitz
Tel: (914) 995-2848 or (914) 924-3404 cell
Westchester County Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz (D-I-WF, Somers), chairman of the County Board’s Budget & Appropriations Committee, will be hosting his 2nd-in-a-series of meetings regarding the potentially harmful effects of PCB-laden caulk and other industrial materials, at 3pm this Monday, May 22nd, at a meeting of the Environment & Energy Committee, chaired by Legislator Thomas J. Abinanti (D-I-WF, Greenburgh).
“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. He will attend Monday’s 3pm Environment & Energy Committee meeting, along with George Weymouth - a retired mason with more than 30 years experience who used to build schools. The County’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Joshua Lipsman, will also be in attendance.
Kaplowitz noted that his third meeting, which will be with EPA officials, will take place sometime next month.
The press and the public are encouraged to attend.
