More than the water was unclear Wednesday at Joseph Sibilly Elementary School where parents, teachers and Education Department officials met to discuss the contaminated drinking water situation at the school.
More than 150 parents and other concerned attendees seemed to have a lot more questions than there were answers.
On Friday St. Thomas Source reported that Education had been presented with Notices of Violation due to the discovery of cancer-causing volatile organic chemicals in the drinking water at Sibilly and James Monroe Elementary schools.
The department hastily issued notices Monday — the deadline for notification under the violation notices — and scheduled a meeting with parents for Wednesday.
It turns out the water at the school had not been tested for VOCs since 1995. June Archibald, spokeswoman for Education, said the bill had not been paid to the testing laboratory by the previous administration.
Testing for volatile organic chemicals of public water supplies, which are any supplies not getting water from the Water and Power Authority, is supposed to be done every three years.
Public water supplies come from cisterns or truckers most often, according to Carol Aubin, environmental specialist with the Planning and Natural Resource Department's environmental protection division.
Some of the questions Wednesday morning were:
— How long has the department known about the contamination?
— What does the federal Environmental Protection Agency have to say about the chemicals?
— What are the side effects and health hazzards associated with ingesting the chemicals?
— What does the department intend to do about it?
Rosalie Payne, superintendent of schools for St. Thomas, led the meeting but was unable to answer many of the questions posed by parents except to identify the department's plans to turn off the drinking fountains and provide bottled water for washing hands.
Payne did not provide information on the specific chemicals — including what they are — though the Education Department has that information.
When asked how long Education had known about the chemicals, Jomo McClean, administrator of plants and maintenance, said he had known since around July 20. The violation notices were sent to Education Commissioner Ruby Simmonds on Aug. 10.
Some parents were upset by the absence of officials from the Environmental Protection Agency — or anyone else who could answer their questions about the specific contaminants.
Payne said environmental protection officials had been notified and that Education officials will meet with them Thursday.
Jim Casey, V.I. coordinator for the federal EPA, said the first knowledge he had of the meeting was "on the radio this morning . . . but maybe they were talking about Environmental Protection," a division of Planning and Natural Resources that has oversight on this issue.
When called, Hollis Griffin, director of DPNR's division of environmental protection, said he will be attending a meeting Thursday, but was unable to offer any information on the nature of VOCs.
"We are only involved in the monitoring process," Griffin said.
Casey said the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registration could offer detailed information on the specific chemicals identified in the report.
Payne said Sibilly's cistern has already been cleaned and once it is refilled, samples will be taken before the water is used for anything other than flushing toilets.
Trees will be cut back, too. Payne said, "We will do everything possible to identify the sources of the contaminants."
Some parents want blood testing done on the children and they want the government to pay for it.
And they aren't the only ones.
Glen Smith, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said, "I am going to follow through to make sure all of the members of my union are tested free of charge."
Smith said the union has 35 to 40 members at Sibilly school.
Parents also want to know how long the school's water has been contaminated.
"I have one son here now, but my other two went through this school," said Stanley Dawson.
Donna Gregory, who was there to represent the Board of Education, said, "We're very concerned. It is unacceptable that the department (of Education) waited this long — since June or July — without informing us."
Here are the volatile organic chemicals that were identified by DPNR's Notice of Violation as exceeding the maximum contaminant level in the water supply at Sibilly school. If you click on the chemical, you will find information from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
chloroform
1,2,3 Trichlorobenzene
Dibromomethane
For general information on ATSDR go to its website at www.atsdr.cdc.gov
Editor's note: V.I. officials have given no indication of the health problems that could be caused by the levels of hazardous chemicals in the Sibilly water supply. The above websites are provided for general information only.
