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Show Final Decision Sought In 'Sick School1 Case Optimistic that a final resolution resolu-tion of Panguitch High School's "sick building syndrome" can be reached in about six weeks "if everything ev-erything falls into place", Garfield County Schools Supt. Philip Blais reviewed the district's latest action to correct the problem. Blais said Tuesday that he met Oct. 20 with a representative from Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational Occu-pational and Environmental Health in Salt Lake City for a complete review of the history of the problem prob-lem that began showing up in apparent allergic reactions and illnesses ill-nesses among students and staff in the fall of 1987, not long after the new building was placed into use. The center is affiliated with University of Utah. Blais is new to the district this fall and said that it was necessary to familiarize himself with all aspects of the problem before he undertakes specific action. As a result of his meeting with RMI, a firm that deals with disease control and analysis, a series of actions ac-tions were prioritized. Blaise said the first step will be to correct the air ventilation system, sys-tem, which, although built to code initially, must be brought up to meet the current codes to get the air circulating properly. New criteria has substantially increased the amount of air flow required in ventilation systems since the years when heavy emphasis empha-sis was placed on saving energy, sometimes at the expense of other factors, Blais said. Glycol, a coolant such as used in automobile cooling systems, will be placed into the system as a less-expensive alternative to installing in-stalling a heat pump providing the coolant can be purchased at surplus prices, Blais said. Principal Ted Chidester is looking look-ing into a source for purchasing 2,500 gallons of the liquid in 55-gallon 55-gallon drums at a fraction of its normal cost. The school's 6,600-gallon 6,600-gallon system would require about one-third glycol to two-thirds water. wa-ter. The third step to be undertaken right away will be replacing filters that arc only an inch thick with special two-inch thick filters capable capa-ble of filtering out particulates. Carpeting in the school will be tested for its possible allergy-causing properties. Medical testing will also begin shortly, Blaise said, with blood work and other tests to be conducted conduct-ed on students and staff members requesting it. Costs of the testing are expected to consume the approximately $7,000 balance remaining from a $10,000 grant received from the state to investigate the problem. Blais also met with engineer Ray Wilde, the design engineer for the system. Blais said both the architect ar-chitect and engineer appear to be "off the hook" on responsibility for any problems as long as the system was designed and constructed according to the then-existing code. Wilde is working on sketches and estimates for a heat-pump system sys-tem in the event that the district is unable to use die glycol. Once the air-vent system is brought up to current code, the engineers will "balance" the system room by room. Blais said it is the district's intent in-tent to move forward rapidly to correct the problems. He said the problem is no longer an uncommon uncom-mon one. He said he understands that even the Environmental Protection Pro-tection Agency's own Washington, D. C. building has encountered some similar problems. |
