The city has agreed to test schools for PCBs and, if needed, come up with a plan to protect kids from exposure after a Daily News probe found the toxin in the window caulking of several schools.
The settlement between the city Education Department and the federal Environmental Protection Agency heads off a parents' lawsuit for now - and puts the schools under tougher federal scrutiny.
The deal dictates a million-dollar pilot study of five schools that could lead to much more testing.
"The program outlined in this agreement, along with general EPA guidance on managing the issue, will serve as a model for school systems across the country," said EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck.
Because PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were routinely added to caulking before the chemicals were outlawed in 1977, buildings nationwide constructed before then are at risk for serious PCB contamination.
Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/01/20/2010-01-20_city_feds_agree_on_school_pcb_testing.html#ixzz0d9wnDhnh