BOE Talks Stratfield Contamination, Concerns Of 'Just Leaving It'

FAIRFIELD, CT — Contamination at Stratfield Elementary School was the focus of discussion at Tuesday's Board of Education meeting, where residents and officials addressed concerns about remediation and whether enough is being done to keep students safe.

Stratfield is one of several schools with playscapes that were confirmed last week to contain contaminants.

"My children will play on this playground for the next eight years and my wife and I are deeply concerned," said Greg Bosch, who addressed the board during public comment.

Bosch, who was cut off by board Chair Christine Vitale when he exceeded the time limit for members of the public, said he was not satisfied with state epidemiologist Meg Harvey's finding that the contaminants at Stratfield do not pose a public health concern.

Representative Town Meeting member Bonnie Rotelli, R-District 4, also addressed the board, telling its members that Stratfield families have expressed concern to her about the test results.

"Regardless of the contamination, we now have an obligation to fix it," she said. "... I'm asking you again to reconsider and do a full and complete remediation on that playground."

Superintendent Mike Cummings said that Tighe & Bond, an environmental consultant hired by the town, concurred with Harvey's findings that the existing 2-foot mulch barrier and landscape fabric are sufficient to prevent students from encountering any of the 10 contaminants discovered on the property.

"We are very much in service of those who know best," Cummings said, later noting that if higher levels of contamination had been found at Stratfield, the district would be considering other types of remediation.

The elevated contamination levels were initially believed to have been caused by past playground equipment, including tires and pressure-treated wood, but Cummings said Tuesday that the location of the playscape was also once a parking lot, which would explain the presence of certain compounds in the soil. The district does not change out the soil on the playscape, but it does update the mulch every summer, administrators told the board.

"The concern is that we're just leaving it there," board member Trisha Pytko, a Republican, said. "... Moving forward I would be concerned if I had a child that went to school there."

Vice Chair Nick Aysseh, also a Republican, responded that in some situations mulch is an appropriate form of remediation.

"Children are not going to be in contact with this soil," said Vitale, a Democrat.

Cummings also updated the board on contaminants at two other school sites. While the McKinley Elementary School playscapes have been deemed safe, contamination was found near the edge of the soccer field to the right of the building, he said. The affected area has been roped off and will be considered for remediation.

Additionally, contaminants were found in a courtyard at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, Cummings said. Blacktop serves as a barrier in some parts of the courtyard, but a grassy area will be cordoned off and additional testing will determine the extent of remediation necessary.

The closure and testing of all district playscapes and fields was ordered last month, following the town's release of a list of 20 high-priority locations for contamination testing. The list was announced days after asbestos was reported at a local park and two town officials and a former contractor were charged in connection with dumping at the public works yard.

The school district's testing of sites not on the town priority list began the last week of August. Playscapes at six schools reopened earlier in September after the district received test results that showed no contamination at any of the sites. One of the playscapes announced last week to have contaminants requires some remediation. Fields at seven schools that were tested by the district were declared safe.

All the locations on the town priority list received material from the public works yard between 2013 and 2016, when Julian Development was operating the facility. Ten of the priority sites have been confirmed to contain contaminants such as asbestos, arsenic, lead and PCBs. The town is working with a consultant and state officials to remediate the locations. The priority list included nine school properties, three of which tested positive for contamination.

Fairfield hired Julian to run its public works yard and reduce the size of a pile of unused project material by 40,000 cubic yards. But during Julian's three-year agreement, the pile more than doubled in size, and days before it was set to end, PCBs and lead were discovered on the property.

After conservation officials said the transportation and dumping of contaminated material could have violated state or federal law, police opened an investigation in 2017.

Former director of public works Joe Michelangelo, former superintendent of public works Scott Bartlett and Julian Companies Owner Jason Julian were arrested last month and are accused of crimes including larceny, forgery and dumping. The majority of the crimes are alleged to have occurred during the years Julian was under an agreement to operate the yard.

In addition to the criminal case, Fairfield has sued Julian for millions in damages and Julian has sued the town for defamation.

For more information on school district testing, go to fpsct.net/fields. For information about town test results, visit www.fairfieldct.org/filluseissues.