Students and staff returned to two Franklin schools on Monday — one of which still has higher-than-recommended levels of contaminants in the ground beneath its building, and in a drain in a faculty bathroom.
Steps are being taken by Franklin Community Schools and the City of Franklin to make sure none of those harmful chemicals make their way into the air within Needham or Webb elementary schools, officials said Monday.
The latest sub-slab sampling results were similar to the results of the winter samplings, but were lower overall. That’s likely due to the weather, environmental experts say. Levels of PCE and TCE, volatile organic compounds which can have harmful health impacts, tend to be higher during colder months, so seeing a downward trend this spring is not surprising, experts say.
Testing last week showed no contaminants in the air inside Needham or Webb, and despite what tests conducted early last month showed, none of the 10 samples taken from the ground beneath Needham last week contained higher-than-recommended levels of contaminants.
But at Webb, two of the seven sub-slab samples came back above IDEM screening levels — 97.8 and 105 micrograms per cubic meter of TCE — and one air sample collected from a floor drain within Webb detected 9.9 micrograms per cubic meter of PCE, a concentration well below IDEM screening levels.
The drains were plugged and one-way vapor valves were installed as a precaution, said Jeff Carnahan, president of EnviroForensics.
Franklin schools plans to install sub-slab depressurization systems at both schools that is expected to help lower the levels of PCE and TCE in the ground beneath the schools. Franklin Superintendent David Clendening said Monday it will likely cost more than $300,000.
“Our goal is to get it as soon as we can,” Clendening said.
Due to the cost, Franklin schools will have to go through its required purchasing procedures, which includes getting approval from the school board and bidding out the project, he said.
“Our issue is not cost. Our issue is safety for our kids and ensuring that we are being proactive and innovative,” Clendening said.
Franklin schools is also planning to do more indoor air sampling in the coming weeks, officials said Monday.
“I will continue to look to our experts. When I look at the data, I am very comfortable with that. Our students are going to continue to go to school there. Our faculty are going to continue to go to school there. And we’ll look forward to a successful end to the year,” Clendening said.
Timeline
Last week, EnviroForensics collected 20 indoor air samples and 10 additional sub-slab samples at Needham Elementary, and 24 indoor air samples and seven additional sub-slab samples at Webb Elementary. EnviroForensics also screened all accessible floor drains and collected air samples from five floor drains at each school.
The indoor samples included eight-hour samples during school hours on March 23, followed by 24-hour samples on March 24 and 25. The results of all 44 indoor air samples showed no detection of PCE or TCE.
On March 20, Franklin schools received results from the sub-slab vapor sampling performed this winter at Needham and Webb elementary schools.
Those samples taken in early March at Webb Elementary showed significantly higher traces of TCE in the ground below the school, with the highest reading underneath a classroom on the northwest side of the building.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management’s recommended level for TCE is 70 micrograms per cubic meter. Three out of seven samples taken below Webb showed significantly higher levels of TCE — 849, 242 and 225 micrograms per cubic meter.
Two out of 10 samples taken below Needham showed levels ranging from 96 to 100 micrograms per cubic meter.
Students and staff at both schools had an e-Learning day on March 21, the last day before spring break, which was last week. No other schools are believed to be at risk and are not being tested at this time, officials said.
City taking action as well
The City of Franklin is conducting more tests in sewers that run near the schools or service them directly, Mayor Steve Barnett said Monday.
There is a potential that nearby sewers could be acting as pathways for harmful vapors to migrate to the schools from off-site sources.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of this. We’re very proactive. The school is proactive. The city is proactive,” Barnett said.
EnviroForensics began testing the Eastview Drive sewer system last week to see if there’s any connection, said Casey McFall, director of field services for EnviroForensics.
That testing began at the Hurricane Road and Eastview Drive intersection, near where the Indiana Department of Environmental Management is already conducting investigations of various sites, including a former Amphenol facility.
That sewer flows to the southeast along the southside of Eastview Drive, crosses Hurricane Creek, and then runs south along the eastern portions of Needham and Webb, directly servicing Needham Elementary, McFall said.
EnviroForensics deployed air canisters in the sanitary sewer through manholes on Eastview Drive, Upper Shelbyville Road and the school properties.
They expect to collect samples from those tests on Wednesday, McFall said.
“Once we receive soil gas and sewer air data, we can then advise the city on follow-up work required to complete the investigation and assess potential sources,” he said.
