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District says final methane testing finds no hazard at proposed Shapiro middle school site
Summary
A district-commissioned engineering review and city coordination concluded there is no methane or VOC hazard at the proposed consolidated Shapiro middle school site; the full report and fact sheet are posted on the referendum website.
The Oshkosh Area School District presented results of methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) testing for the proposed consolidated middle school site at the current Shapiro location and told the board the final report found no hazard.
At the Feb. 26 meeting the district's administrator described a multi-step review conducted with a contracted engineering firm and in coordination with the City of Oshkosh. The district said it reviewed historical maps of local quarries and landfills, and ran both indoor and outdoor air-quality testing. The administration told trustees the final report "confirms that there is no risk of hazard from methane gases or other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the proposed site." The district said the city's ventilation and mitigation systems at adjacent former landfill locations are functioning effectively.
District staff said this finding means they do not anticipate additional methane mitigation measures will be required at the proposed site. The district also announced that the full engineering report and a public fact sheet are available on the district's referendum website.
Board members asked procedural questions about the testing. The administrator said the testing included indoor air-quality measurements for VOCs as well as checks outside the building and below ground, and that no methane was detected in any of those samples. Trustees also asked whether alternate sites, such as South Park, remained legally available; staff said building on the South Park site would have required additional city and county approvals and could not meet the district's referendum timeline.
The administrator noted the city has placed "no trespassing" signs at nearby landfill sites to discourage public use of those properties and clarified that the signs are not an indication of a current hazard but rather steps to protect the sites from misuse.
Board members thanked staff and the City of Oshkosh for the coordinated effort and said they were relieved by the findings as the referendum process continues.
