HARDWICK – Workers at Hardwick Elementary School Wednesday morning discovered the roof of the lobby facing South Main Street had a noticeable sag in the supporting above where doors and windows had earlier been removed. An engineer onsite from John Turner Consulting (JTC) quickly evaluated the situation as the roof continued to sag and recommended placing three vertical wooden columns as temporary supports.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
It appears at least one of the lobby roof supports under a steel beam that spans the lobby was cut Tuesday after windows containing PCB caulking were removed, according to OSSU Director of Operations Joe Houston. Houston has been overseeing work at the school, which involves removing windows in eight classrooms along the driveway and windows and doors in the lobby entrance. Other work involves taking up flooring in the lobby, classrooms and in the corner music room on that side toward the parking lot.
Workers at the school had been removing windows in the classrooms, where instructions were to cut the vertical dividers between them, which were not structural, said Houston. Three vertical supports between the lobby windows and doors were structural and were not to have been removed, but portions of all three were not in place Wednesday morning before 9:30 a.m.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Houston said it had been clear to him that the lobby supports were not to have been removed, saying it appeared there had been miscommunication somewhere with workers removing the lobby windows and doors..
Window and door caulking in the eight classrooms and lobby is the cause of the work to remediate high levels of PCB chemicals in the school,
Last week Houston was working with the three contractors involved to identify solutions and ironing out responsibility to pay for the remedial work now required to lift the lobby roof back into place, install new structural supports, assess damage to the roof’s waterproof membrane and evaluate whether any damage had occurred to supports at each end of the beam. He said all of the contractors were working well together and suggested there was a chance issues with the roof and lobby front wall could be resolved for the first day of school, August 25.
The vertical lobby supports had been cut by the abatement contractor Enviro Vantage as they removed the offending PCBs during work they were contracted for by JTC. Workers from Energy Efficiency Investments (EEI), who were onsite to replace building parts that had been removed, were able to construct the recommended vertical supports and install them by about 11 a.m. Wednesday, according to Houston. A plastic interior barrier was visible in the lobby, which was there to protect the rest of the school’s interior from PCB contamination during the mitigation process.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
The area was covered by plastic Thursday to protect the interior of the lobby from the elements as work inside continued.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are highly toxic and carcinogenic chemical compounds, formerly used in products whose production is now banned. Work by Enviro Vantage to remove the materials tested to have PCBs was about a week behind schedule, said Houston, but EEI has been able to work around that, staying on target with much of their work.
The problem with high levels of PCBs was identified when testing of air samples from the school revealed elevated levels in some rooms. JTC was then engaged to test materials on an EPA list of materials sometimes known to contain and emit PCBs Testing of window caulking revealed the highest levels of 15,000 parts per million (ppm), which triggered the need to test all the listed materials and remove any testing about the 50 ppm level. That included caulking in the eight classroom windows, plus the lobby windows and doors. Floor tile in those areas tested at 300 ppm, triggering its replacement too. Walls in the music room testing about 50 ppm and are being encapsulated with an epoxy coating, which will not allow PCBs to penetrate into the room.
Soil tested outside the building, along the driveway also tested high, so it will be removed and replaced after other exterior work is completed.
Houston said the goal was to have the heavy construction completed before the beginning of the school year and most of that is on track. “There’s room for hope on that,” he said. If the lobby can’t be used at the start of the year, the gym has enough other exits to be usable by students, but capacity would likely be limited and not usable for community gatherings.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
