Vermont proposes $9.5 million to mitigate PCBs at already‑tested schools

On Feb. 5, the Vermont House Education Committee heard from the Department of Environmental Conservation that the state budget includes a one‑time $9,500,000 general fund appropriation to mitigate and remediate polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in schools that have already been tested.

Committee members were told the appropriation is not intended to fund testing of additional schools but to focus on corrective action and cleanup work at already‑identified sites. Matt Chapman, a DEC representative, described the money as “a meaningful amount of money to get going on mitigating and addressing some of these concerns,” but said it may not cover all costs at every affected school.

Trish Capilino, who identified herself as part of the Vermont DEC Contaminated Sites Program, said the agency is actively developing environmental corrective action alternative (EECA) documents and corrective action plans for the schools. “We are working on 6 schools right now,” Capilino said, and described the EECA and corrective action planning process the DEC uses to evaluate options ranging from encapsulation to removal to demolition. The consultant‑produced EECA will include cost estimates, likely long‑term monitoring and maintenance obligations, and community involvement so school districts can decide which option fits their facility plans.

DEC staff listed the schools currently being addressed as: SOAR (St. Albans), North Country Union High School (Newport), Bellows Falls Union High School (Rockingham), Green Mountain Union High School (Chester), Twin Valley Elementary School (Wilmington), and Hartford High School (Hartford). Capilino said some of those projects are at later stages—SOAR, for example, has completed data collection and is moving into the EECA stage—while others still require additional sampling and planning.

Committee members asked whether the proposed funds would cover long‑term costs. Chapman said the appropriation is intended to support mitigation and remediation work and to produce clearer cost estimates, but “I don't know that it's gonna cover everything in the schools that we're focused on.” Capilino likewise said DEC is using current funding to fill data gaps and to produce cost estimates so districts can make informed decisions.

Members also questioned how the DEC is coordinating with the Agency of Education and with the Legislature’s larger school construction planning. Chapman said DEC staff are working with the Agency of Education to see whether PCB remediation can be incorporated into broader master planning and capital planning processes and offered to provide input to the committee as it crafts future school construction legislation.

On regulatory coordination, DEC staff said they continue to consult with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 1. Capilino described recent discussions with EPA about managing materials on‑site and said the agency has allowed more flexibility when risks are controlled. “The largest issue has been that EPA was requiring that there was removal of PCBs if they were greater than 50 parts of the materials,” Capilino said, adding that recent EPA guidance has provided regions discretion to allow materials to remain in place if risks are managed and monitoring is ongoing.

DEC staff described the program’s prioritization approach: primary focus on occupied instructional spaces such as classrooms, libraries, gyms and cafeterias where immediate action level exceedances reduce access or raise exposure concerns; secondary focus on spaces where engineering controls (for example, carbon filters) reduce concentrations while longer‑term work is planned; and ancillary focus on bathrooms, hallways and storage once the primary issues are addressed.

Committee members raised questions about smaller projects and ongoing quarterly indoor air sampling. Capilino said some schools have budgeted funds for continued sampling and that DEC has installed air filters in some buildings; she also said the department does not currently have enough funding to address every small project statewide.

The committee did not take a vote during the session. DEC staff said the appropriation in the released budget would allow the department to produce the corrective action documents and begin mitigation and remediation at the targeted schools, and that further legislative and capital planning work will be needed to resolve longer‑term funding decisions.

Looking ahead, DEC and committee members said they will continue coordination: DEC will finalize EECAs and corrective action plans for the affected schools, continue sampling and monitoring as needed, and provide input to the House Education Committee and the Agency of Education about how PCB remediation could be incorporated into capital planning and construction assistance programs.