Social Understandings

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

533-Michael Brown, Fergurson, Mo. CRB library, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC

1/27/14
The most important part of the equation in the article below is  the "PARENTS" concern who after decades have turned from 99.99% AFrican American to a large majority of WHITE people; right smack dab in the middle of an AFrican American neighborhood; now how did that happen; all those black parents are now in another AFrican American neighborhood where unless they are paying attention or have enough courage will recieve compensation for their children breathing cantaminated air; and drinking contaminated water; of which the white male authorities knew decades ago that the water and air were contaminated-which is why white males did things/nade decisions to send African American[s] out of the Hanes Lowarnce school area so that whites can be paid instead of AFrican American[s] which confirmation is  by highway 40 west by A&T campus intentionally set up to use fowl smells in air to reprogram cetain AfricanAmerican students which the campus was intentionally positioned off campus dormatory beside and old motel which was positioned by a research smell factory;

Godwillst

"Teachers told air quality OK at Hanes, Lowrance schools "

Parent meeting scheduled Wednesday at schools

[Posted: Monday, January 26, 2015 9:49 pm
[http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/teachers-told-air-quality-ok-at-hanes-lowrance-schools/article_232947d4-a5cf-11e4-9a0c-137cfbe6b06b.html];


WSJ_0127_COUNTYSIDE 08

Mary Reardon (clockwise from left), Jeff Harbinson, and Dan March, of Pisgah Environmental Services, chat before the Forsyth County Commissioners meeting at Forsyth County Government Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., Monday, Jan. 26, 2015. Parents of students attending Lowrance Elementary are concerned that the schools are sitting on land with toxic waste.


Teachers at Hanes and Lowrance middle schools were looking for answers Monday after learning the building in which they work sits near one of the most hazardous waste sites in North Carolina.The schools serving about 1,200 students have, for decades, sat atop a plume of contaminated groundwater teeming with toxins linked to cancer. They’re also known to turn into vapor and seep into buildings. Teachers, some of whom were unaware they work near a hazardous waste site, raised questions about the quality of the air they breathe.

The meeting Monday was supposed to be about the district’s plans to replace Lowrance, the district’s middle school for special needs students, with a new $15.4 million building on the same site. Helm said teachers did have questions about the safety of the current building.
“(Teachers) wanted to know, bottom line, is the school safe?” Helm said. “We feel comfortable saying that it is.”
Groundwater contamination has been moving toward the school property over the past few years, according to documents obtained by the Winston-Salem Journal from the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The source is a decades-old chemical dump across Indiana Avenue, property now owned by Kaba Ilco, a locking products manufacturer.
Two wells at the location of the proposed school building show that two chemicals, tetrachloroethylene (known as PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), in the groundwater are well above state safety standards. The well closest to the surface – 35 feet deep – shows PCE levels more than 11,000 times higher than the state safety standard and TCE levels more than 16 times higher.
Tests for PCE and TCE vapors in the classrooms — the real danger posed by the underground contamination — have been conducted six times in the schools' 63-year history.
Kaba Ilco, tasked with cleaning up the contamination, contracted a consultant to conduct indoor-air tests in eight rooms inside Hanes and Lowrance twice in 2005, twice in 2006, once in 2007 and inside nine rooms in 2014.
From 1991, when the contamination was discovered, to 2005, the air was not tested. From 2007 until the test in May 2014, the air was not tested.
The 2005 and 2006 air samples showed alarming levels on two occasions: TCE concentrations were 40 times and 10 times above screening levels, once in a Hanes classroom and once in a Lowrance classroom, according to the documents.
It’s unknown exactly how much information the district gave to teachers. The principal of Lowrance, Val Raynor, told a reporter with the Winston-Salem Journal on Saturday that she could attend the staff meeting. Monday morning, that reporter was told she could not attend because staff meetings are not open to the public.
The district will continue to answer questions about the safety of the current schools, as well as the ability to safely build a new school on the site.
Dana Jones, newly elected chair of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education, said the board is likely to discuss the issue at its meeting Tuesday. Jones said her priority is making sure parents and teachers feel safe in their current schools.
“That’s our number one goal,” Jones said, “making sure… we answer any questions they have.”
The board voted Jan. 13 to request $41.6 million from the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners for several projects that include rebuilding Lowrance and Konnoak Elementary School.
Jones, one of six new board members, said the board will look for additional information about the project, the site and the environmental concerns surrounding it. Those issues were only briefly touched on in the two conversations the current board had about the project before voting on it.
“There are some concerns in everyone’s mind to make sure we have all the information,” she said.
Teachers and school board members are not the only people with questions. Parents have some, as well.
“What we know is that the TCE and PCE groundwater levels tend to rise throughout the years,” said Jody Sherron, who has a daughter at Hanes. “What we don’t know is how those vapors are affecting our air quality.”
Sherron and four other people attended the scheduled meeting of the Forsyth County commissioners Monday evening, all concerned about the air quality of the existing school buildings and the proposal to build a new one on the site.
The commissioners are expected to discuss the school project in the coming weeks and could vote on the funding request as early as Feb. 9.
“The school board’s data on current air quality is greatly insufficient at best,” Sherron continued. “It makes me concerned for my daughter. Far more samples need to be taken currently. But to consider putting a new school on this site is completely irresponsible, in my opinion.”
A meeting will be held at the Hanes and Lowrance campus Wednesday at 6 p.m. for parents who might have questions.
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@ArikaHerron
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