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North Country superintendent urges pause on PCB testing program after costly, inconsistent results
Summary
Elaine Collins, superintendent for the North Country Supervisory Union, told a legislative committee that variable PCB air-test results, extensive mitigation costs and uncertain long-term fixes warrant pausing the current program to design clearer standards and consider school construction aid.
Elaine Collins, superintendent for the North Country Supervisory Union, told a legislative committee that her district has spent about $9 million so far addressing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) found in school buildings and that testing and remediation have been disruptive to learning.
Collins said the union — which serves roughly 2,630 students across 12 schools in a roughly 520-square-mile area — has confronted PCB detections in five schools, with the highest preschool air-sample reading around 200, above the limits she described. "Parents were super grateful to have their kids in school," Collins said, adding, "Again and again they said, 'thank god you didn't go remote.'"
Why it matters: Collins told lawmakers the scale of local remediation is large, the science around air sampling is variable, and continuing the existing program without clearer…
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