The Manhattan Times

Environmental tests say two Inwood schools are safe

by Adam Garrett-Clark

Tests of the air quality at the site of two public schools in Inwood, P.S. 18 and P.S./M.S. 278, indicate safe levels for students and faculty, according to P.S./M.S. 278 principal Maureen Guido.

“The school is positively, absolutely safe,” Guido said during a Nov. 30 phone conversation after receiving initial reports from two separate testing companies in recent weeks. Guido said the initial findings from a Nov. 6 test at the site by the Department of Education were confirmed again on Fri., Nov. 27 by the test results of a private company hired by the United Federation of Teachers.

“All the levels were more than within the state guidelines,” Guido said, explaining that official written reports of the tests would be released in the coming weeks and presented to parents.

Safety of the school building was called into question in September when it was discovered that the two schools were over the site of an oil spill that likely occurred ten years earlier. The discovery was made during an investigation initiated by Dawn Philip of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest while looking into the environmental review process preformed by the DOE before locating the school building in an industrial area.

Toxins in the ground can seep into the air of a building above due to differences in air pressure. The news alarmed many parents whose children attend school in the building, and became a recurring question during school tours with potential parents, Guido said. 

Philip said she won’t accept that the schools are safe until she sees the reports herself.

“Without more information, it’s hard to say either way,” she said.

Philip has issued a Freedom of Information Act request for the results of the Nov. 6 tests. Her initial inquiry into the environmental testing before the schools were constructed is still unresolved.

Philip’s FOIA request with the DOE, due weeks ago, has continued to be delayed, and is not expected until Jan. 7.

“Were in waiting game right now,” she said.