'Unacceptable' Arsenic Levels Found At Jennings School

FAIRFIELD, CT — The Jennings Elementary School playscapes will remain closed after test results revealed that both sites have "unacceptable" levels of arsenic, according to Fairfield's superintendent.

The new results confirm contamination in the timbers surrounding the playscape to the left of the school. The playscape to the right of the building also contains arsenic in the timbers and soil. Both sites will stay closed while a remediation plan is developed, Superintendent Mike Cummings said in an email to parents Friday morning.

The timbers at the left Jennings playscape have an arsenic concentration of 3,260 parts per million, while the timbers on the right have a concentration of 1,200 ppm, according to district documents. The elevated soil concentration on the right playscape is 13.7 ppm, compared to the residential standard for soil of 10 ppm.

Fairfield Health Department Director Sands Cleary said that because the timbers are a solid material, the residential standard for arsenic in soil is not comparable. The wood timbers were treated with compounds that contain arsenic, Cleary said, adding they do have a plastic coating that prevents direct exposure.

"The plan that's being developed is to remove all that wood," Cleary said.

The school district is working with the town and consultant Tighe and Bond on remediation but was unable to provide a timeline Friday, according to the email.

The closure and testing of all district playscapes and fields was ordered in August, following the town's release of a list of 20 high-priority testing locations that could have received contaminated material from the Fairfield public works yard. 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 yard.

As of Friday, only three schools had testing sites that remained closed due to contamination: the Jennings playscapes, a walkway at Mill Hill Elementary School and the grassy portion of a courtyard at Fairfield Ludlowe High School, according to the district website.

Of 60 areas in Fairfield that have been evaluated for contamination, 50 have been deemed safe. In addition to arsenic, contaminants found at sites that tested positive for exceedances include asbestos, lead and PCBs. Up to 42 more locations may still be tested.

Fairfield hired Julian Development in 2013 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 in August and are accused of crimes including larceny, forgery and dumping.

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.