By Justin McCallum

State health officials are shying away from a proposed health study for students, parents and teachers affected by a toxic building that once housed PS 51 The New Bronx School. 

Parents were discouraged at a meeting on April 24^th, where state Health Department scientist James Bowers attempted to convince parents that a study may not be the next best step for the community, but rather more outreach and education on trichloroethylene (TCE). The toxin and cancer-causing carcinogen was found in the public school building on 3200 Jerome Avenue at up to 10,000 times higher than acceptable levels.

Bowers told the audience he was not there to propose a health study, but rather inform them what the health agency could do with its limited resources. He said no study could provide a causal link between TCE exposure and serious health issues.

“There is a lot we can’t do,” Bowers said sympathetically to the crowd.

Outraged Parents
Lisa Fischel-Wolovick, a mother of a student who attended PS 51, was particularly frustrated when questioning Bowers, who replied despondently to her questions over the length of time TCE develops in children, how symptoms manifests in kids, or whether the levels of TCE could’ve been even higher than recorded. “We don’t know that,” Bowers responded.

Limited by their resources and facing an obstacle from the city Department of Education, which is withholding lists of names of students and faculty who attended PS 51 because of ongoing litigation, Bowers said that a costly, full survey-based study would be out of the question. He added that even an independent review cross-referencing state lists of cancer cases and birth defects with TCE-affected people could be unfeasible.

Bowers even warned the community of the negative effects a study could carry, siphoning resources from outreach and education around TCE exposure and possibly hurting legal cases that call for medical bill compensation. At best, he said, a medical study could determine a predisposition for future health outcomes.

“It’s similar to what you do if you’re a woman and your mother had breast cancer,” Bowers said. “It changes the rules a little bit about how the doctor interacts with the patient.”

But for active member of PS 51 Parents United Annette Melendez, that wouldn’t cut it.

“Don’t give us a million reasons why not to do the study,” Melendez said. “We’re talking about kids whose organs are still growing, whose brain is still growing, whose everything inside of them is still growing. Do the study!”

Fischel-Wolovick echoed Melendez, stating “we owe it to other children out there who may have been exposed to TCE to know what we can.”

Preventing Future Delays 
This falls in line with one of the group’s other goals–to prevent this sort of negligence from threatening other children. One of these efforts came to fruition earlier that day as Councilman Fernando Cabrera held a press conference at City Hall proposing a bill that demands regular reporting and faster notification to parents and staff of environmental test results in schools. Cabrera was compelled to draft the bill after learning that students, parents and staffers were not notified by the toxicity of the school six months after a report on the toxic school was filed.

Following a straw poll vote, a vast majority of the crowd–from longtime advocates to former student Ronald Brown and custodial staffer Frank Burgos, whom had never been notified of the contamination–requested that Bowers work with state DOH to determine the feasibility of a study.

Alan Gary, a father turned community organizer who had all of his children attend PS 51, encouraged community members to continue to spread the word and advocate for the innocent children and faculty exposed to TCE. He suggested joining discussions with former classmates, via the Facebook group PS 51 Parents United or through the Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition.

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