City Council Announces New Plan to Speed PCB Removal in Schools

The New York City Council and the Department of Education have agreed to reallocate $30 million from the DOE's technology budget toward measures that will expedite measures to remove Polychlorinated Biphenyls, commonly known as PCB’s in schools.

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and members of the Council’s Education and Environmental Protect announced the agreement on Wednesday, part of an overall plan to increase energy efficiency and environmental quality in New York City schools within the next three years.

The funds will be used specifically for replacement of school lighting fixtures at 772 schools that contain PCB’s. This funding will supplement the $141 million added to the capital plan to finance the Department’s energy efficiency plan called ‘NYC Schools Comprehensive Plan: Greener, Healthier Schools for the 21st Century.’

Not only will the comprehensive new plan replace PCB-containing light fixtures, but also, it will increase the energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“Schools are supposed to be safe havens for our children and the presence of PCBs within our school buildings has been a serious cause for concern,” said Council Member Al Vann. “It was a budget priority of the Council to ensure that the removal of PCB containing light fixtures from schools was expedited. We have accomplished that with this reallocation and will continue to work towards the elimination of PCBs in schools.”

The new plan will be the most ambitious and aggressive program in the country to address the issue of PCB's in school buildings, according to Dennis Walcott, chancellor of New York City schools.

“We should always err on the side of caution when addressing health matters pertaining to children in our schools and I want to thank Chancellor Walcott, my Council colleagues and the DOE for working diligently on this important issue for our children,” said Quinn.