WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Crews working on a chimney replacement project at Hartford Memorial Middle School this summer discovered toxic chemicals in paint during construction and removed them.
“As is our established practice and to remain in compliance with state and federal regulations related to the presence of these chemicals and the resultant concerns about safety, these results were reported to the state through the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC),” Hartford School District Superintendent Caty Sutton wrote in a Sept. 15 announcement.
She added that department officials told the school that the materials would need to be removed and disposed of, which they did.
“We have been informed by the state that the concentration of PCBs in paint samples is very low and does not prompt further testing or regulatory oversight,” Sutton wrote. “In short, as long as these materials are not disrupted, the state has no safety concerns. Any project work that involves disruption of these materials will be flagged by our Facilities department to schedule work with an abatement contractor present.”
The chimney replacement project is part of a $21 million facilities repairs bond voters passed in 2024.
“Moving forward, this is really no different than what we would do normally,” Hartford School District Facilities Director Jonathan Garthwaite said in a Tuesday phone interview. “There is no hazard.”
He added that asbestos was also found during the summer construction project and was also removed.
Polychlorinated biphenyls — also known as PCBs — were commonly used in building materials, including paint and caulking, until the Environmental Protection Agency banned the substances in 1979 because they were found to cause adverse health effects to the nervous, immune, reproductive and endocrine systems, among others. In 2021, the Vermont State Legislature passed Act 74, which required school districts to test the air quality in their buildings for the toxic chemicals.
The air quality at Hartford Memorial Middle School was tested for PCBs in 2023, Garthwaite said.
“There is an important distinction to make here,” he said. “The air in that school was tested years ago and there is no hazard to the air quality in that building.”
Since 2024, four classrooms at the Hartford Area Career and Technical Center have been closed due to the presence of PCBs in the air, and those programs have been relocated. The high school and technical center, which are part of the same building, have undergone quarterly testing since then, Garthwaite said. The tests cost around $100,000 a year, which the state has reimbursed the school district for.
