the staff of the Ridgfewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Dr. Fishbein gave a presentation on Mercury in Gym 3 Synthetic Flooring – Ridgewood High School. News reports indicated that there were possible concerns about the presence of mercury in rubberized gym floors. Dr. Fishbein, Ms. Kelly, and the facilities manager met proactively and arranged to have our floor tested. The only school with this type of flooring is Ridgewood High School. Dr. Fishbein informed the community about the test results in a letter that was sent on February 14, 2020.
In that letter, he indicated that the district would be removing and replacing the floor as a precaution, even though the level of mercury is presently below the current level for immediate remediation. Dr. Fishbein showed a comparison of thresholds in other states demonstrating the varying acceptable levels, and he added that there are groups that are pushing for lowering the standards. Results from our bulk testing which was done in April 2019 indicated that air sampling tests were required. These tests, which look for mercury vapors, were completed and analyzed in May 2019, and the results were below the New Jersey Department of Health Standard. Since mercury vapor is highly diffusible and liquid soluble, it is easily absorbed. The recommendation of the environmental consultant was to remove the floor as opposed to monitoring, which would require quarterly air sampling tests at a cost of $3,000 – $4,000 per sampling, per quarter. Dr. Fishbein outlined the cost for remediation, replacement of the flooring, and related professional cost estimates. This project was approved by the Board.
- To view the PDF of this presentation, click here.
- To watch the presentation, click here to view the webcast and scroll to 1:46:15.
I think we could have tabled this as it was also presented that the current levels are not a need for concern. Why spend the money now? Mr. Dani raised a good point Monday – why aren’t we trying to group our infrastructure needs into one request to see if we can qualify for state aid, therefore minimizing the impact to the taxpayer?
They are completely out of Control
Take it out of the teachers pension
So they feel the same pain
We dont have the Money admins
Got the math yet !???
These people have to GO
Ooooh Look.
Something to spend money on and enrich my contractor friends.
Approved!
Good all Ridgewood overrated.
I’m offended by the use of the word gym.