The interim leader of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) says the school system will retest all schools in the county for radon “out of an abundance of caution” after recently released records showed 28 had elevated levels of the carcinogenic gas.
Interim Superintendent Larry Bowers said he’s also directed MCPS Chief Operating Officer Andrew Zuckerman to review why remediation wasn’t immediately sought at some of those 28 schools.
“Again, I want to assure our students, staff, and parents that safety is our number one priority,” Bowers said in a prepared statement released Sunday. “To that end, we are moving swiftly and decisively to bolster our radon testing and mitigation program.”
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends mitigation such as installing sub-slab vapor barriers, proper sealing and vents to buildings that were constructed before much was known about radon, a naturally occurring radioactive gas that comes from the breakdown of uranium in soil.
The EPA estimates exposure to radon contributes to about 21,000 lung cancer deaths per year and that the odorless gas tends to affect cigarette smokers in greater numbers. Radon can enter homes or buildings through cracks in the foundation.
The EPA recommends taking action to stop radon if radon levels hit at least 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). The recently released report, requested by a member of the watchdog group Parents’ Coalition, showed some rooms in 28 schools had radon levels of at least 4 pCi/L.
Results for one school, Fallsmead Elementary School in Rockville, were dated 2012 in the report while other schools didn’t include a date.
Despite MCPS protocol that dictates a classroom that registers higher than 4 pCi/L be retested before possible mitigation, Bowers admitted that in some cases, the retesting never happened.
“Our radon testing protocols dictate that when a classroom registers higher than 4.0 pCi/L, we will retest as the first step before mitigation,” Bowers said. “This retesting should have already occurred based on our testing protocols, and I regret that, in certain cases, it did not.”
Bower said mitigation had already occurred in some of the 28 schools and another retest will be done as “an added cautionary measure.”
Bowers said MCPS will post updated radon test results and actions for sites that require mitigation on its website. Zuckerman will also be charged with overhauling the school system’s testing and mitigation program.
In 2009, then-principal of Westbrook Elementary School John Ewald sent an email to parents notifying them that one classroom in the Bethesda school had tested for a radon level of 5.9 pCi/L and that “an approved Radon Mitigation process is being implemented to reduce the level of Radon in this classroom.” A post-mitigation radon test would be scheduled, according to the email.
Westbrook Elementary School was one of the 28 schools with elevated radon levels MCPS said would be immediately retested, with many of those tests scheduled for this week and next week. It’s unclear if the classroom referred to in the 2009 email was one of those identified in the recently released MCPS report.
