Guest view: School site needs better soil/air testing
On June 27, the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board voted yes to go forward with remediation on the Peet Road/Borello property, where the district plans to build a new elementary school. The vote was four in favor, three against. On June 28, an article was written in the MH Times that did not reflect some key concerns highlighted during the meeting that questioned the successful monitoring of the safe levels of the toxin dieldrin during the projected August remediation.I did an extensive research into the district’s Removal Action Plan (RAW), as I was concerned about several factors, namely: the placement of only three or four air monitoring units described; the environment unique to Morgan Hill, primarily our winds and gusts; the 24-hour turnaround for the actual results; and exceeding the fence line “stop work” number of .05 mg/m3.I spent a majority of my career working with designing/analyzing measurement and testing equipment. I saw a disconnect in the amount of air monitoring units proposed in the RAW, coupled with the lack of information about the accuracy of these units. These two factors alone are concerning. The RAW indicated prevailing winds in that region of Morgan Hill as 3 mph. This is incorrect; I have personally been monitoring winds and gusts in Morgan Hill on key meteorological sites for 60 days. The actual winds and gusts are in the area of 9 to 16 mph.I then called Thermo Fisher, the maker of the measuring unit. The technical expert indicated the accuracy is +/- 5 percent based on constant calibration (manual) of the temperature and humidity; this information was not indicated in the district’s RAW. The Thermo Fisher expert then indicated the diameter of the air chamber is only 1 inch wide by 3 inches long. This expert then asked the length and width of the area being measured. I replied, nine acres, and he suggested 91 units are needed to accomplish a 95 percent confidence level. I asked if we can reduce the number of units and he said you can halve the 91 units to 40 at a distance of about 5 feet apart, but the confidence/success level will be reduced. This information was not included in the RAW report.At the June 27 board meeting, I asked the consultant of the Peet Road project, with a Department Of Substances Control representative on the phone via teleconference, if he knew the accuracy of these measuring units and the answer was NO. I asked if he knew the diameter of the air chamber, and the answer again was NO.I expressed my concerns that the RAW is only recommending one-tenth of the air monitoring that the experts say we need to protect the surrounding community with a high degree of success. The consultant and DTSC were unable to answer my questions regarding the wind/gust factors relative to when dirt dries and becomes airborne given temperatures above 80 degrees.The district’s RAW raised many other questions that need answering including why the soil wasn’t retested in the area that encompasses the proposed grassy area that students will be playing on. This planned grassy/field area is almost 56 percent of the Borello property.Our children will be exposed to TOXINS on a daily basis unless DTSC initiates further testing to be absolutely sure of the level of toxicity/Dieldrin in this quadrant of the land. I have a duty of care as a Trustee, I voted not to proceed.Gino Borgioli is a Morgan Hill Unified School District Trustee. He was elected to the board of education in 2014. He can be reached at [email protected].
