Dear Source,
As a concerned parent, I made it a point to attend the hearings held at the legislature on September 7, 1999. After all, I have two children who attend the Joseph Sibilly School. One who had attended for one year and one who has attend for three years.
In my previously published editorial I was very critical of the department heads that had not made it a point to personally attend the previous meeting at Sibilly School. I therefore must admit I was happy to see Commissioner Plaskett and St. Thomas Administrator Mr. Louis Hill in attendance at the Senate hearing.
My compliments to Senator Jean Baptiste, Chair of the Education Committee and Senator Donald Cole whose line of questioning served the purpose of finding answers to the many questions parents who showed up had.
Kudos goes to Senator Donastorg who chaired the meeting. From the jeers and outburst from the audience, I could only feel the sense of distrust from the attendees.
In all fairness, I must commend Commissioner Plaskett for his forthright is admitting that his department dropped the ball in failing to issue a citation or warning to the Department of Education for failing to submit the results from the December testing. It takes a big man to take responsibility.
Let us face it. During the months in question, we witnessed a government in transition. I would be hard pressed to lay blame on the two commissioners, Plaskett & Simmonds.
My first instinct is to look at the employee(s) charged with testing the water and, charged with submitting the results and/or report(s) to their commissioner or supervisor.
It seems clear given the facts made available that the employee charged with testing and reviewing the results and/or his/her supervisor should be held responsible for dropping the ball on this issue. Let's look at what we know:
FEMA paid for the emptying and cleaning of all cisterns at public schools after Hurricane Marilyn.
December 1996 the water is tested per guidelines of the EPA safe drinking water act for Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's. Results are negative.
December of 1998 the water is tested per guidelines of the EPA safe drinking water act for Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's. (Every three years.) Results are not provided due to contamination of the vials used for collecting the water samples. Department of Education is advise to retake the samples.
April of 1999 the water is re-tested. Per guidelines of the EPA safe drinking water act for Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's. Why the three month delay? Results received in May/June show the presence of VOC's. At this point rather than notify the parent and cease the use of the water at the School, the Department of Education opted to have the water re-tested.
June of 1999 the water is re-tested for the third time. Results again show the presence of VOC's in the water. DPNR issues corrective measures to the Department of Education to take corrective matters. Nothing is done during the summer months while school is closed to correct the matter and no notice is given to the parents of Sibilly school informing them of their children's possible exposure to the contaminated water.
August of 1999 the weekend before schools are to reopen for the 1999-2000 year the media is leaked a story regarding the contamination. Parents are in an uproar.
Since the problem was known to DOE officials and the DOE failed to promptly notified the parents, parents feel distrust and are certain of a cover-up by DOE and/or DPNR officials.
I believe, after Thursday testimony, that Commissioner Plaskett of the DPNR acted in a responsible matter to take corrective measures to notify the Department of Education of its responsibility to take corrective
measures.
I also accept Commissioner Plaskett's acknowledgment that DPNR failed in issuing a citation or warning to the Department of Education for failing to
submit the results from the December testing.
So where to be go from here? Good question! What questions remain unanswered?
1) Who within DPNR was charged, and failed, with the responsibility to issue a citation to the Department of Education for their failure to submit the results to DPNR within the limits set by law?
2) Who within the DOE was charged, and failed with the responsibility of submitting reports to DPNR in a timely fashion?
3) How and when did the water at Sibilly School and James Monroe get contaminated?
There are more questions! However, to make it easier to focus, I believe these are the first three questions that the parents, faculty, and school children want answered! So, to the Department of Planning and Resources (DPNR), the Department of Education (DOE), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health (DOH), the Federal arm of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Senator Donastorg, Senator Baptiste, and Senator Berry, WE WANT ANSWERS!
Vinnie Mohanani, St. Thomas
