Get dangerous chemicals out of schools quickly

Monday, February 14, 2005

The thought of toxic, explosive and radioactive chemicals sitting on shelves at schools across Maine seems preposterous.

But it is happening.

Without adding to the state budget or to taxes, lawmakers must find the money to clean up what remains a truly dangerous situation.

The extent of the problem was revealed recently through a pilot project that sent investigators from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection to 80 high schools and middle schools to remove mercury from laboratories.

The searches, which included just 18 percent of Maine's schools, turned up much more than the DEP expected: Along with 700 pounds of mercury, scientists found more than 6,500 pounds of dangerous dry materials and 1,000 gallons of unsafe liquids.

They also discovered radioactive materials, nitric and sulfuric acid, explosive picric acid, toxic pesticides, flammable oils and gasoline.

One school even had chlorine and bromine gas cylinders that were at least 50 years old. The chemicals were used to make mustard gas.

Most of the dangerous materials had been forgotten in storage areas or custodian's closets. Some were on shelves in classrooms, art rooms or nurses' offices.

It is essential that the state take care of this problem as quickly as possible, even though it would cost an estimated $1.6 million.

Lawmakers have proposed two bills that, through different means, would provide money to evaluate and clean up the remaining 367 high schools and middle schools in Maine.

One bill calls for a $2 million bond, which would be subject to voters' approval.

The second bill would assess a 30-cent tax on the sales of home and garden pesticides, more than 4 million pounds and about 380,000 gallons of which are sold every year in Maine.

Both proposals seem unnecessary.

Gov. John E. Baldacci already has recommended borrowing $1 million for school cleanup efforts as part of the $197.4 million bond package he proposed last week.

The best and simplest solution is for the Legislature to adjust the amount Baldacci has proposed so it will cover the full cost to remove all of the hazardous materials from schools.

This can be done as lawmakers are debating and, we hope, making cuts elsewhere in the governor's borrowing plan.