Healthy Site Committee-Summary of Position

Healthy Site Committee – Summary of Position

This series of statements are meant to summarize the committee’s stance on how the school district and the school have been handling the mould and asbestos situation at Peace Arch Elementary.

1. The SD has been negligent by not following all of the the recommendations of their hired experts, putting the staff and students at the school at unnecessary risk.
2. Insufficient academic data and proof exists to support the SD’s claim that the school is safe for young people.  The guidelines used at the school are not proven to apply to the students.  The SD has been negligent pointing to these guidelines as proof that the school is safe for children.  The SD should err on the side of caution and exceed the guidelines and treat findings close to the guidelines as alarming.
3. The SD has cost taxpayers more money by taking the “fix it when it breaks” approach rather than trying to address the root problem in a holistic, longitudinal manner.
4. The SD and school has not established maintenance records to keep track of the work done and any specific situations currently affecting the school, such that when new work is performed the workers, staff, and students are put at unnecessary risk because the new work does not take into account the history of the buildings and their current state.
5. The SD has withheld information from parents, staff, and students putting them at undue risk.  The SD has not been forthcoming with information and honest in its reports about the safety of the school.  The SD has been self-serving at the expense of staff and students in this regard.
6. Peace Arch Elementary should be a participating school in the district’s involvement in WorkSafe BC’s Certificate of Recognition program.
7. At various times throughout the reports created by contracted experts there have been seemingly random hypotheses put forward to explain alarming findings.  None of these hypotheses have been tested and shown to actually have been the cause for the alarming findings.  It is negligent to make such claims and not verify or test when staff and students’ health is at risk.
8. The SD and school have been unfair to staff at the school.  They have not provided a clear and accurate picture of the state of the school, and the anticipated impact of the school environment on an adult’s health.  As concerns have been raised by staff the complaints have not been handled appropriately, openly, and in a cooperative manner.
9. The SD has been neglectful in how they have assessed the risk related to the mould species found at the school.  They have not differentiated between relatively benign species versus harmful species when evaluating risk, simply reducing everything to a generic non-differentiated count.
10. The SD has denied the parent group’s request for additional expertise both in engineering and environmental risk and remediation plans in an effort to avoid exposing the neglectful mis-handling of the situation over the last 2+ years.

Background

In April 2010 vermiculite was discovered in Peace Arch Elementary library and classrooms.  During the cleanup and remediation of these leaks it was discovered that various parts of the school’s crawlspaces were growing mould.  The Healthy Site Committee was formed by the PAC to act as a central point of contact between the school district and the parents of Peace Arch Elementary as cleanup and further investigation of the vermiculite and mould issues proceeded.
Over 2010 and 2011 numerous projects have been undertaken by the school district to try to remediate any found leaks and mould growth.  As these events continued to occur it became obvious that the school district was taking the approach of fixing problems as they arose rather than trying to pro-actively solve underlying problems to work towards long-term solutions.  Due to the short-sighted nature of the district’s decisions, the Healthy Site Committee began to take on an advocacy role as well, pushing the district for information on what is happening at the school and how the district can best ensure that the school is healthy and safe for teachers and students alike.

Vermiculite or Asbestos

Vermiculite was used to help insulate the buildings at Peace Arch Elementary during its construction.  Vermiculite on store shelves today is not dangerous or of concern.  However vermiculite produced until the early 1990′s could contain asbestos.  When it was first discovered leaking from the walls at the school it was unknown if it contained asbestos, so to ensure the safety of everyone it was treated as though it did contain asbestos.  Since then analysis has been done on the various parts of the school and as of July 2010 an inventory of asbestos-containing materials has been created as is available for reading on the school’s dedicated website.  The result of this finding is that all vermiculite found on school property should be treated as asbestos-containing vermiculite.

Mould and Fungal Growth

During remediation of the vermiculite it was discovered that various parts of the school also housed mould and fungal growth.  Some spaces such as the crawlspace below Pod 300 have seen such extensive mould growth that entire floors have been replaced, and monthly inspections continue today, years after the original mould was discovered.  Throughout those years there have been repeated attempts by the district to remediate the mould and stop its growth, so far to little success.  Even today, at the end of April 2012, mould and moisture continue to appear in various crawlspaces at the school and the district has not been able to find the source to put an end to it.
Over the years the district has spent what can only be a huge amount of money in hiring remediation firms and environmental experts (as well as some structural engineers) to help remediate the symptoms.  They have yet to clearly and concisely identify and remove the source of all mould and fungal growth at Peace Arch Elementary.

More Information

The Healthy Site Committee does not hold any power over the school district – we are only the parent’s voice in this fiasco.  However we have seen some success in pushing the district to act on some of the findings.  The district has agreed to post all related reports and findings to the dedicated website.  There you can go back through the years of reports, activities, and failures should you take the time to wade through the files.  The Healthy Site Committee is currently working on compiling a summary of each report and the various recommendations made in each report.  The goal is to help parents and other interested parties understand what recommendations have been made to the school district and which have actually been followed.  The truth is that the district has not followed all the recommendations made by the environmental experts they have hired, and as a result the problem has continued to re-surface over the years.  The Committee is also challenges by the district’s lack of interest in helping us understand what is going on.  Reports have not always been made available on the website, particularly ones that document mould growth after remediation efforts were supposed to remedy the problem.
The Healthy Site Committee are parents that want to ensure the school site is healthy to everyone.  We continue to devote our spare time to trying to document and unravel the tales the district tells.  We hope we can help you begin to explore the issues at hand via the summary report.  We also will continue to pursue alternate methods of putting the district’s choices and actions under scrutiny, as nobody else seems able to take them to task.

Finally a report we've been asking for since spring!

March 15, 2011 Project Number: FV926 L03

SD36 Surrey

District Facilities Centre

6400-144^{th Street}

Surrey, BC

V3W 5R5

Attention Mr. Greg Forbes-King

Assistant Director, Plant Maintenance & Minor Renovations

cc: Nancy Johnston, Health and Safety Officer

Tin Sham, Manager, Structural/Plumbing

Reference: Visual Inspection in Crawlspace of POD 300 - Peace Arch Elementary School

Introduction

In response to your request, Pacific Environmental Consulting and Occupational Hygiene Services (Pacific) has been conducting monthly inspections within the crawlspace of POD 300 and fungal sampling in occupied areas (classrooms) at the above referenced site. Remediation had been performed in both the fall and winter of 2010; Pacific performed pre-contamination inspections, daily inspections, and final visual investigations as well as fungal sampling during remediation activities. The findings supported the conclusion that there was no cross contamination between the crawlspace and the occupied areas during remediation and that removal and cleaning was completed as recommended to the extent possible. However, it was acknowledged that there was some ongoing water intrusion that needed to be repaired.

This report details the findings of the visual crawlspace inspection completed on March 4, 2011. For spore trap sampling within classrooms of POD 300, see the Pacific report FV926 L02 SD36, Peace Arch – Fungal Sampling.

Visual Investigation – March 4, 2011

Pacific conducted a visual investigation of the POD 300 crawlspace and found that the moisture/water sources had not been corrected. Water was pooled on the floor beneath a pipe penetration in the floor (above), which is located approximately midway along the west wall about four feet out, beneath Classrooms 1 and 3 (Appendix A: Photo 1). The concrete walls along the west as well as the north and south sides at the west ends were wet (Appendix A: Photos 2 and 3). Water staining and drips were visible on the floor joists and the underside of the wood floor from the west wall to approximately eight feet out along the full length of the west wall. Fungal growth had re-grown on the underside of the floor, centered around the previously referenced pipe penetration in the floor (Appendix A: Photo 4).

Recommendations

The following recommendations were also communicated in an interim report dated January 14, 2011. All sources of water ingress impacting the crawlspace should be identified and corrected or controlled. This should be done as soon as possible to prevent further water damage and/or fungal growth in the crawlspace. Once the water ingress issues have been corrected/controlled, the area should be remediated and a structural engineer retained to assess the damage to structural components, such as floor joists. Interim control measures such as dehumidifiers, mechanical exhaust fans and drip trays could be used to control the water ingress until a permanent solution has been identified.

In the interim, Pacific will continue to perform crawlspace inspections and spore trap sampling on a monthly basis, as directed by SD36 (Surrey).

Environmental Consulting &

Occupational Hygiene Services

Excellence and Innovation since 1990

1336 Main Street, North Vancouver, B.C. V7J 1C3 • Phone: (604) 980-3577 • Fax: (604) 980-2188 www.pacificenvironmentalbc.com 2 March 2011

Limitations

This report has been prepared in accordance with established Industrial Hygiene and Mycological practices. It is intended for the exclusive use of School District 36 (Surrey) in order to assist them in complying with the requirements of the WorkSafeBC Occupational Health and Safety Regulation. The use of this document for any other purposes is at the sole risk of the user.

Statement of Qualifications

Pacific Environmental Consulting and Occupational Hygiene Services has been providing consulting services in the environmental and industrial hygiene fields, since 1990. Our industrial hygiene expertise ensures that all projects are performed in accordance with the WorkSafeBC Occupational Health & Safety Regulations. Our personnel include the following:

• Industrial Hygienists (CIH, ROH)

• Professional Engineers (PEng)

• Registered Professional Biologists (RPBio)

• Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP)

• Occupational Health and Safety Technicians.

Our company also carries Comprehensive General Liability and Environmental Errors & Omissions Liability Insurance.

Yours truly,

Pacific Environmental Consulting & Occupational Hygiene Services

Lynnette Bosch, DipT OH&S Jennifer Blair, MSc, CIH, RPBio

Senior OH&S Technologist Manager, Industrial Hygiene

Field Work and Report Report Review

Ref: FV926 March 14, 2011 School District 36 (Surrey) Crawlspace Inspection Peace Arch Elementary School, Surrey, BC – POD 300 Report ID: FV926 March 14, 2011

Where has the time gone?

Well, here we are in October 2011 and I can't believe where summer went, and especially where did September go? 
Many meetings and events have taken place since spring in dealing with the mould and asbestos issues at our school and we'll try to keep the information and updates coming this fall but quickly for now we need to report that many kids are experiencing symptoms that can probably best be attributed to our school and at last the teachers are also starting to report conditions of their health that they have been experiencing for the last few years that they now know are from the state of the school.  One teacher has reported a sharp increase in nose bleeds from students in one pod over the last couple of years and in the library the ferns have grown back on the inside of the ceiling only to be taken down again last week during the time a class was in there. 

Crawlspaces have been opened up during class time in pod 300 and the contaminated air allowed to be released into the classroom. 

Workers have not been following proper safety regulations while working in the areas and once again we feel that we're somewhat back to square one. 

The healthy school meeting of last year really seemed to yield very little in the way of results and the frustration level of parents has only mounted.  Thankfully more parents have become aware of what is going on, done their own research and realized the seriousness of this for their own kids' health sake. 

Asbestos and mould (mold) are terrible things for our kids to be breathing in and we shouldn't be allowing the school to get away with this anymore.  In the end, this author believes it comes down to money.  The school board of Surrey (who happened to build an expensive new facility for themselves recently) does not want to spend the money to properly take care of this mess.  And honestly, Peace Arch Elementary probably needs to be torn down and re-built.  Get rid of the mould and asbestos for good.  Enough of the band-aid solutions that aren't working. 

Enjoy your weekend everyone and please feel free to add your comments or ask your questions here, we'll do our best to follow up. 

Wednesday, April 13 Next Healthy School Meeting

The next healthy school meeting is tomorrow morning at Peace Arch Elementary School.  I'm sure there will be much to discuss at this meeting in light of the events over the past month and one of the hot topics for several parents is why we haven't received the Building Envelope Report yet. 

If you have questions you'd like asked of the district at tomorrow's meeting please post them here and we'll put them forward at the meeting. 

Building Envelope Report Request for Peace Arch Elementary School

Just a quick note today.  Parents have been overly patient, hopeful and more than trusting, much more than the district deserves at this point.  We continue to receive poor communication, edited versions of reports and a lack of transparency.  It has been well observed by not just parents but by some in the industry of protecting our kids and the teachers that the district has done a beyond poor job to resolve the health issues of our school.  They continue to place band aids only instead of fixing problems. 
We have been waiting for a very long time to receive the building envelope report that was done on our school some time ago. 
A formal request from one parent to the district requesting a copy has been sent and we'll see if we get it.  If we do, we'll do our best to share the full contents here.  It's important.  Our school has made enough kids sick and it's time we all stood up and said enough is enough.  Please consider writing your own email to Bernadine at babuik_b@sd36.bc.ca and demand a copy of this report.  It will be harder for the district to hide things once this document is released and our kids deserve that. 
Peace Arch Elementary School

Email from the School District regarding recent work

HEALTH & SAFETY DEPARTMENT School District 36 (Surrey) 14225 56 Avenue, Surrey, B.C. V3X 3A3 Phone: 599-7400; Fax: 596-3192 April 1, 2011 Healthy Site Committee—Update #2 Remediation Work
Photos received from RDH of the Pod 300 crawlspace continue to show moisture ingress and condensation. : RDH Building Engineering Ltd was onsite at Peace Arch Elementary School on March 22, 2011. They dug a hold approximately 4ft x 3ft down to the drainage tile. RDH has indicated that the primary source of the moisture is from ground water rather than interior humidity. This ground water ingress results in humidity within the crawlspace, which condenses on the cold surfaces at the top of the wall and adjoining joists. Without having the final report, RDH has indicated it will be necessary to improve the drainage configuration. RDH will be providing a full report to the School District and, as well, will attend the April 13 meeting 9:00 am at Peace Arch Elementary School. Pod 300 Integral Seal With respect to the integral seal between Pod 300 occupied spaces and the crawlspace, Pacific Environmental has confirmed as follows: "Yes. The sealing of all penetrations to attain an integral seal is a function of the High Risk procedures, and this was certainly of primary concern with this particular project, given the concerns raised by parents.
My site technician on this project spent several days inspecting the containment to confirm the seal (a process that typically takes no more than a half-day) as part of the pre-contamination inspection process, and the area was not released to the abatement contractor until we were satisfied that the seal has been achieved." This information has been shared with WorkSafeBC. Pod 400 With respect to Crawlspace under Pod 400, the "loose fill asbestos containing vermiculite" debris and the mould was abated over Spring Break by Quantum Murray LP Management. The source of the vermiculite was sealed with spray foam insulation in order to prevent further leaking. Quantum identified controls as follows:
- Containment – crawlspace area sealed from floor space above using combination of poly sheeting and duct tape on all pipe penetrations, openings, vents, etc. Smoke tubes were used to ensure integrity of containment. o Perimeter walls where block wall meets concrete foundation wall were inspected for any cracks, openings, etc. o Once cracks, openings, etc were identified these areas were sealed/encapsulated using an approved sealant, o
- Wetting – all asbestos materials and block were saturated with water prior to removal. Air was misted in areas where concrete floor was damp. Depending on the scope of work, airless sprayers, garden hoses, misting cans, and misting bottles were used. As well as wetting the material the same devices were used to mist the air during active removal as needed.
- Negative Air – negative air pressure was maintained during all Moderate Risk phases using HEPA equipped negative air units to ensure all airflow was from the clean area into the contaminated work area. These units Workers inspected for penetrations through underside of floor to main level, any openings were sealed using caulking, mono foam, duct tape, poly sheeting as required. School District 36 (Surrey), Human Resources Department 14225 – 56 Avenue, Surrey B.C. Tel: 604-599-7400 Fax: 604-596-3192 reduce the quantity of asbestos fibres in the air by filtering contaminated air out of the area, and were vented to exterior, but not near building air intake vents.
- Portable HEPA Vacuum – HEPA equipped portable vacuum units were running and used during all cleaning, removal and final cleaning phases of this project. These units reduce the quantity of asbestos fibres in the air by filtering contaminated air out of the area.
- Air monitoring – from commencement of removal until completion of cleaning operations, air samples were collected as required by PHH ARC Environmental. Pod 200 With respect to Pod 200, all penetrations between the crawlspace and occupied spaces have been sealed and 4 negative air units with HEPA filter are in place in the crawlspace. The vermiculite has not been abated and the intent is to do this work in July. The source of the vermiculite appears to be leaking from the area where the concrete block walls meet the concrete foundation.
The School District has confirmed with WorkSafeBC that this is an appropriate containment. Fungal & Spore Sampling
Results continue to confirm that the concentrations of spore samples collected indoors are less than for the outdoors (Ambient Outside). The exception is Room 301 where the concentration of hyphal fragments were basically at the same level of concentrations collected from the outdoors (Ambient Outside).
The website address is http://www.sd36.bc.ca/peacea/ Click on "Special News". : Fungal sampling was conducted on March 17, 2011 in occupied spaces of Pod 300 and Pod 400. This report dated March 28, 2011 should be available on the website next week.

Time for a Pod Update

When we send our children off to school we naturally assume that they are going to be:

• safe
• well educated
• nurtured by their teachers and staff
• fed, usually with a healthy lunch from home
• their physical needs for fresh air and exercise will be met
• be provided with a school that is healthy for them to be in

It is this last point that has brought about so much concern over the last year.  It took parents to expose the truth about the unhealthy conditions that existed within our school, conditions that were making many our of children very sick with unexplained symptoms that only occurred during the school year but mysteriously disappeared during school breaks.  Some of those children went through doctors and testing and it is now known that many of our children are literally allergic to the unhealthy conditions at our school, that our school was making them sick.  This is not acceptable and that is what many parents have been working to have corrected. 
Unfortunately, like almost everything else, the district has a budget and doesn't want to spend money they don't have to (except it seems unless it's for a brand new building for themselves).  Exposing the truth last year didn't seem to be quite enough for the district to act though. 
What also needed to happen was basically an intervention of sorts.  When a larger more powerful entity was approached, they were able to elbow their way into the picture and demand compliance from the district to start cleaning up their act. 
Has the school been compliant?  Sort of.  And very slowly.  In a way that is acceptable to the parents who have worked tirelessly to stay on top of this?  The answer is No. 
The truth is that the district has been ,as one parent beautifully puts it, "dancing" around these issues.  Many people in positions to push the district to do the work they should have done a very long time ago are equally frustrated that the district has taken so long to get any work underway.  Why?  Because it costs money, that's why.  The less investigating they do, the less money they'll need to spend.  The more investigating they do, the more they'll keep finding as is the case here and that costs more money.  Pretty simple really.  Money over kids.  That's no surprise. 
But, what is unacceptable is that the district has not actually come up with real solutions to these very real problems. 
Taking pod 300 as an example we, the parents, were lied to about the investigation even after repeated questions about how, where and when they had done an investigation.  When the truth finally came out the district really had some serious dancing to do.  And they should have been embarrassed by the truth. 
When they decided to dig up the south end of the building many parents in the construction and building industry were shaking their heads and wondering why they were doing what they were doing.  It didn't make much sense.  During the process the fans that were supposed to keep the air safe for the kids weren't all functioning and yet it was once again parents who discovered this and brought it to the attention of the school who then had to bring in the professionals right away to have fixed.  It was a mess.  How much money was spent on that operation?  And guess what, it didn't work.  Many of us aren't surprised.  Instead of resolving issues, the district continues to apply band aid solutions.  That never works.  Not in the long run. 
Now, they are going to dig up the west side of the building because the moisture, mould etc. is still continuing underneath that pod.  This problem won't go away until they get to the root of the problem which they should have done last summer while the kids were off. 

The recent reports regarding pod 400 are still coming out but at some point they are going to be installing a negative air system.  What they haven't told us is whether they are going to use a hepa filter or not.  That question has been posed and has still not been answered.  Ask anyone in the know and they'll tell you that it would be very foolish to not use a hepa filter as that would create all the unhealthy air to be blown out for everyone to breathe in.  That means mould, vermiculite and asbestos will be breathed in by our kids and parents who walk their children to classrooms.  Unacceptable.  Parents are once again pushing to have a hepa filter in place but who knows what they will do. 
Furthermore, if the district was smart about being money efficient they would apply a hepa filter negative air system underneath pod 300 until they resolve the water issues there.  It'll save them bundles in the long run. 
It has been widely discussed by many professionals in the field and reported back to not only the school district but to parents as well that the district has not done all it should have done, that the district is acting far too slowly and that they should be doing much more to ensure the safety and well being of our school for our children and their own staff. 
A building envelope report has been done, nobody has seen it yet but hopefully it gives us more answers and provides more information as to what needs to be done.  Why this report is taking so long to be released is also another question many people, not just parents, are asking. 
We don't want any more band aids, we want solutions and we want them now.