Living in the Shadow of Danger: Poverty, Race, and Unequal Chemical Facility Hazards 

New Report by Center for Effective Government, 1/16/2016 

Nearly one in 10 U.S. schoolchildren (4.9 million) attend one of the 12,000 schools that are located within one mile of a dangerous chemical facility.

The report looks at the 23 million residents living or attending school within one mile of facilities so hazardous they are included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Management Program. Residents with incomes below the poverty line and people of color – especially children – face the greatest dangers.

The report, interactive map, and a set of state fact sheets are available at http://www.foreffectivegov.org/shadow-of-danger.

Stop School Pests & IPestManager 

SIPM Educational Programs

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 *POSTPONED*

02:00:00 PM EST - 03:30:00 PM EST

Join the Center of Expertise for School IPM as we get a sneak-peek at two new, free, online school IPM resources.

Featured Speakers

• Dawn Gouge, Ph.D.  is an Associate Professor and Associate Specialist–Urban Entomologist with the University of Arizona.
• Janet Hurley is an Extension Program Specialist on School IPM with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service.

Registration and more information: epawebconferencing 

school.ipm@epa.gov

Indoor Air Quality Plus Energy Efficiency: A Formula for Saving Money While Protecting Health

IAQ Master Class series

 

Thursday, March 12, 2015, 1:00–2:00 p.m. EDT Followed by a live mentoring and Q&A session, 2:00–2:30 p.m. EDT

Participants will learn how to —

• Explain the critical connection between IAQ and Energy Efficiency and the importance of properly integrating the two for optimal occupant health and building performance.
• Take a proactive approach to saving energy and money, including possible processes, procedures, policies, and key principles that facility managers need to understand to effectively protect IAQ while increasing energy efficiency.
• Replicate best practices to integrate IAQ and Energy Efficiency into building operations and maintenance activities, including facility design, construction and renovation.
• Use resources to help with their energy efficiency efforts, including ENERGY STAR^® tools, and EPA's new guide, Energy Savings Plus Health: Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for School Building Upgrades.
• Implement energy efficiency measures while maintaining occupant health with examples from a successful model school district.

Featured IAQ Experts from the SHIELD Network

• Kudret Ütebay, The Cadmus Group
• Bill Orr, Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS)
• Model School District (to be announced)

Register today to learn more about how effectively managing IAQ in schools can contribute to a healthier learning environment, improved academic performance, and more efficiently performing facilities.

Visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/100000000065847312 to register today!

Get Smart! Make Every Day Count.

The Indoor Air Quality Master Class Webinar Series

 WATCH NOW:

The Creating Healthy Indoor Environments in Schools: The Knowledge,Network and Actions You Need Sixteen IAQ Champions demonstrate how to start, improve and sustain an Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management program using the proven approaches and strategies in EPA's Framework for Effective IAQ Management.  

The Making the Case for Environmental Health, Academic Performance and High-Performing Facilities webinar Hear about the most compelling and motivational evidence for Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) management in schools and what award-winning school districts are achieving, such as increased cost savings and improved student performance. 

AIA CEUs Now Available! To receive 1.5 Learning Units toward American Institute of Architects' (AIA) Health, Safety, and Welfare and Sustainable Design (HSW/SD) standards, please send your full name, AIA#, email address and the webinar topic to iaqschools@epa.gov.

Mold and Moisture Control in Schools: Potential Health Effects and Safe Clean-Up Practices
Webinar: (November 19, 2013)  http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/webconferences.html

This webinar provided information about how to successfully manage an in-house or outside contractor mold remediation. Steven Caulfield with Turner Building Science and Design, and President of the Maine Indoor Air Quality Council, Harrison, Maine addressed strategies for communicating a school’s efforts to the community, with the goal of alleviating any need for crisis communication tactics. Peggy Caruso with Katy Independent Schools District in Texas shared her experience with tackling a potential mold crisis, which resulted in the implementation of long-term mold and moisture prevention policies and procedures.

• Mold and Moisture Control in Schools: Potential Health Effects and Safe Clean-Up Practices Slide Deck (PDF) (65 pp, 5.3MB)
• Mold and Moisture Control in Schools: Potential Health Effects and Safe Clean-Up Practices Q&A's (PDF) (5 pp, 138K)

EPA funds removal of chemicals in schools, Tracey C. O'Neill, Cranston Herald  

The result of a hazardous waste settlement between commercial waste hauler Northland Environmental, its owner PSC Environmental Services (PSC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has resulted in a benefit to 60 schools in Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

The settlement, resulting from EPA claims of state and federal hazardous waste violations at a Providence facility, led to the announcement of the statewide cleanup of hazardous chemicals at 33 Rhode Island schools. All schools lie within a 50-mile radius of the Providence facility where the violations took place.

Read More 

Get Smart! Make Every Day Count.

Countdown to National Healthy Schools Day April 30

Webinar: Defining Clean in School Facilities and its Impact on Students, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, 1:30 pm CDT (11:30 a.m. PDT, 12:30 p.m. MDT, 1:30 p.m. CDT, 2:30 p.m. EDT)  American Clearinghouse on Educational Facilities (ACEF) will host this webinar, presented by Dr. Richard Shaughnessy.    The webinar will explore the strong relationships between a school classroom’s healthy indoor environment and its student wellness and productivity, and describe improvements to classroom indoor environmental quality that create and maintain healthy schools. Cleanliness requirements for schools often require facilities to be kept in a “clean” and “sanitary” condition, as typically determined by visual inspection. Rarely are quantitative measurements of the surfaces and materials that are “cleaned and sanitized” required in support of the visual assessment. However, cleaning practices may be adequate according to an “eyeball” assessment, but inadequate at the removal of less visible substances we term pollutants (i.e. biological, chemical, particulate residues), thereby failing to reduce the burden of exposure and health risk to the building occupants.  
Register:  http://www.acefacilities.org/DeliveryDetails.aspx?classid=79b72ff8-d9d8-48c6-abf1-957b862bf0d4    For more information, contact  Laura Whetstine  ACEF,  phone: 254-968-9990, email: acef@acefacilities.org.

School Siting Webinar: Understanding the Challenges andOpportunities for Communities and Decision-makers, May 8, 2013; 1:00 pm -2:15 pm, EST.  This webinar will help districts, schools, and communities understand the importance of school siting and the impacts on economic development, communities, public health, and the environment.  A panel of experts from U.S.EPA, Suzi Ruhl, J.D., M.P.H, Senior Attorney Policy Advisor in the Office of Environmental Justice; Regina Langton, Senior Policy Analyst, Office of Sustainable Communities; and Suganthi Simon, Pollution Prevention Coordinator, Region 4, will provide participants with information and tools that can help districts, schools, and communities weigh school siting decisions.  Register now at: https://esbuildings.webex.com/esbuildings/onstage/g.php?t=a&d=290358887

2013 Healthy Schools Heroes

Heroes Linda Stroud and Janet Hurley  

Inspiring Nominees Aimee Code and John Gann 

National Healthy Schools Day 
http://www.nationalhealthyschoolsday.org/

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013 and all week long!

National Healthy Schools Day is coordinated by Healthy Schools Network in cooperation with US EPA and promotes the use of EPA's IAQ Tools for Schools guidance as well as other EPA environmental health guidelines and programs for schools and children’s health.
 
Participate locally, in your city or state, or nationally! Become a new or continuing organizational partner for 2013. Email us for information on how your school or group can be recognized! 

See the free online activity tools and suggestions, such as the all-new Healthy Schools Day State/City Proclamation/Resolution toolkit, or the Take Back Your IAQ Classroom Checklist. Visit our website for more ideas.

Two free informational conference calls for new and returning partners:
Thursday, February 28th at 4:00pm EST.
Tuesday, March 5th at 12pm EST.
http://www.nationalhealthyschoolsday.org/

WATCH: Students Allegedly Used To Remove Asbestos huffingtonpost.com

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/09/buckeye-education-asbestos-ohio-video_n_2441652.html?goback=.gde_1995021_member_205935742 

An Ohio school is under criminal investigation after it allegedly had volunteers, including students as young as 13, remove debris from an asbestos-contaminated building over several weekends, WKYC reports. 

See:  How Schools Comply with the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act (AHERA) http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/schools.html
The AHERA regulations require public school districts and non-profit schools to:

• Perform an original inspection to determine whether asbestos-containing materials are present and then re-inspect asbestos-containing material in each school every three years
• Develop, maintain, and update an asbestos management plan and keep a copy at the school
• Provide yearly notification to parent, teacher, and employee organizations on the availability of the school's asbestos management plan and any asbestos-related actions taken or planned in the school
• Designate a contact person to ensure the responsibilities of the public school district or the non-profit school are properly implemented
• Perform periodic surveillance of known or suspected asbestos-containing building material
• Ensure that trained and licensed professionals perform inspections and take response actions
• Provide custodial staff with asbestos-awareness training

 More information: http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/schools.html

NEW EPA HEALTHY SCHOOL GUIDELINES & WEBINARS

EPA is pleased to announce the release of Voluntary Guidelines for States: Development and Implementation of a School Environmental Health Program. The guidelines were mandated by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 and were developed in consultation with other federal agencies, states, school officials, and non-profit organizations.

School environments play an important role in the health and academic success of children. Children spend 90% of their time indoors and much of that time is spent in school. Unhealthy school environments can affect children’s health, attendance, concentration, and performance, as well as lead to expensive, time-consuming cleanup and remediation activities.

These voluntary guidelines recommend six steps states can take to build or enhance a school environmental health program. The guidelines also include a model K-12 school environmental health program as a resource that states can customize and share with schools and school districts to help them establish, or enhance an existing, school environmental health program. The model program incorporates EPA’s unique school programs such as Tools for Schools, Healthy School Environments Assessment Tool (Healthy SEAT), ENERGY Star for K-12 Schools and others, to help schools and school districts begin or enhance a comprehensive school environmental health program.

To complement the guidelines release, OCHP will be hosting two webinars in October and November, respectively. 
 
(1) The first webinar, Why Environmental Health Matters in Schools, will be held on October 17^th from 2:00-3:00pm EST. The webinar will feature Larry K. Lowry, PhD, Director of the Southwest Center for Pediatric Environmental Health (SWCPEH) and Director of Graduate Programs in Environmental Health at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, who will discuss the critical link between students and their environment and how it can affect their performance in school.
 
(2) The second webinar, Integrated School Health Tools for Districts, will be held on Wednesday November 7^th from 2:00-3:00pm EST. This webinar will discuss how schools and school districts can create healthy environments for students by implementing a comprehensive, sustainable environmental health program. The webinar will feature highlights, tips, and strategies from established state programs. 
 
You can register for both webinars at: https://esbuildings.webex.com/mw0306ld/mywebex/default.do?siteurl=esbuildings
 
To learn more about the guidelines, please visit our website at www.epa.gov/schools.

Safe Classroom: ADEQ releases chemical management toolkit
Sarita Douglas, examiner.com
September 29, 2012 

On Thursday, September 27, 2012 the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) released a 60-page chemical management toolkit to assist Arizona school districts in managing chemicals used at schools.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ranks responsible chemical management as a top priority for schools, stating that many school buildings "contain environmental conditions that inhibit learning and pose increased risks to the health of children and staff."
English version 

The EPA provides information and resources on its own healthy schools chemical management website.

The EPA video on the SC3 campaign to clean up chemicals in schools provides an in-depth look at the many places chemicals can be found in and outside the chemistry lab, and the process of removal in several schools in the US.

.

Remembering a chlorine derailment, puresafety.com, Dr. Scott Harris

It doesn’t seem like eight years since I had a major run-in with a railcar of “skull and crossbones” material, but today was the day.  At that time I was a Federal On-Scene Coordinator (FOSC) with the U.S. EPA in Dallas, TX.  FOSCs are the lead for agency responses to oil and hazardous substance releases and have full authority to direct all public and private resources to stop or prevent a release.

Read more...

Go to the EPA website for a close-up look at this unique event.  I also highly recommend the lessons learned report prepared for the National Response Team.
–
UL PureSafety’s software and information solutions empower employees to improve workforce health and safety.

 

 Pride of Purpose 
from IAQTfSConnector@cadmusgroup.com

“It was astonishing to see how much prouder the IAQ team members became of the work they do each day once they understood the connections between IAQ and health and the role they can play in academic achievement.”  – Stacy Murphy, U.S. EPA Region 6

Dear School Leader,

Stacy Murphy

I’m excited to share the story of a rural school district in Oklahoma that has taken steps to identify its challenges and strive for growth and success using the IAQ Tools for Schools guidance. Ponca City Public Schools’ journey to success is one I believe school districts across the country can emulate.

As a 2011 Design Challenge School District, Ponca City attended the 2011 IAQ Tools for Schools National Symposium in Washington, D.C., ready to soak up as much technical information, guidance and mentorship from other school districts as possible. Working with other Symposium participants, the district began to pinpoint improvements needed to create a comprehensive IAQ management program, and throughout this process, one specific challenge rose to the surface. It became clear to the Ponca City staff that a disconnect existed in the district’s ability to communicate IAQ issues throughout the school community.

Read full article by Stacy Murphy here: LINK

Pictured above: Ponca City School District representatives working to identify and solve the district’s IAQ challenges.

Clean, Green and Healthy Schools Webinar Series

Hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, the webinars are designed for schools serving tribal communities but are OPEN TO ALL: school administrators, risk managers, educators, health and safety coordinators, school health professionals, environmental protection personnel, parents, communities, and EPA personnel.

Please register to attend. You may attend one or more presentations in the webinar series and there is no cost to attend.
   
Register at: www.epa.gov/region8/tribalschools
For additional information:  Matthew M. Langenfeld, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, 1595 Wynkoop Street, 8P-P3T, Denver, CO 80202, 303-312-6284, Langenfeld.matthew@epa.gov
  
Integrated Pest Management & Green Cleaning in Schools
Mike Daniels, Native Integrated Pest Management Consultant
North Central Integrated Pesticide Management
Marie Zanowick, EPA
2/1/2012 3:30 PM MST, 5:30 PM EST

Recycling, Composting & Gardening in Schools
Virginia Till, EPA
Diane Jourdan, Oneida and Stockbridge Tribe
2/8/2012 3:30 PM MST, 5:30 PM EST

Indoor Air in Schools
Mansel Nelson; Graylynn Jaysue Hudson, Northern Arizona
Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals
2/15/2012 3:30 PM, 5:30 PM EST

Energy & Water Conservation in Schools
Deenise Becenti, Navajo Tribal Utility Authority
2/22/2012 3:30 PM MST, 5:30 PM EST

EPA Grant to protect children in homes, schools, child care

EPA's Office of Children's Health Protection is pleased to announce the release of a solicitation for grant proposals to address children's environmental health in underserved communities by building capacity for these communities to reduce environmental exposures in child-occupied settings, eg, homes, schools and child care centers.  Funds available for award are expected to total approximately $1.5 million, and EPA intends to award approximately 15-20 awards, each for an amount not to exceed $100,000.  The due date for initial proposals is February 18, 2011.  Assistance under this competition is available to States or state agencies, territories, city or township governments, county governments, the District of Columbia, federally recognized American Indian Tribes, possessions of the U.S, public and private universities and colleges, hospitals, laboratories, other public or private nonprofit institutions, and 501(c)(3) organizations.  For complete information regarding this Request for Initial Proposals, see: http://yosemite.epa.gov/ochp/ochpweb.nsf/content/grants.htm

Webinar: School Chemical Cleanout Sept 15

Webinar: Prevent Air Pollution at the Source: School Chemical Cleanout
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM EDT

Keep your school safe and free from hazardous chemicals. Chemical mismanagement can lead to dangerous exposures and risks - jeopardizing the safety of students and staff by polluting the air. Join experts from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Schools Chemical Cleanout Campaign and Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program, as well as the representatives from school  district's and private industry, as they explain effective methods to safely manage chemicals that are used in schools every day