Burlington school officials to consider recommendations on reoccupying high school

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) - Burlington school officials are considering whether it’s possible to reoccupy parts of the high school building vacated last fall over PCB contamination concerns.

At their Tuesday night meeting, the school board will be reviewing advice from independent consulting firms that concluded that reoccupying even portions of the building isn’t a long-term solution.

The discussions come after state health officials last month presented revised guidance suggesting that less than 100 nanograms of PCBs per cubic meter in the air are considered safe in Vermont school buildings. That’s well over the 15 nanograms that led to the abandonment of the building, re-locating to the former Macy’s, and launching the search for a new location.

Even with the new recommendation, areas of the old high school are still considered unsafe by the Department of Health and don’t take into account PCBs in the building materials.

The independent consultants agreed reoccupying all or some of the buildings would be a lengthy and expensive process.

Rachel Mann will have more on the story on the Channel 3 News at 11.

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