After reading about the damaged heating tank and the decontamination at Crestview last summer, someone with a child at the school contacted the Suburban to ask whether the school is safe. This particular child suffers headaches and nausea at school but feels good at home.<\/p>\n
Maxeen Jolin, the coordinator of communications services at the Sir-Wilfrid-Laurier school board, assured the Suburban that all necessary decontamination work was completed as of September 19, 2013.*<\/p>\n
This work is not registered as complete on the Quebec Environment\u2019s list of contaminated lands.<\/p>\n
H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Proteau, a spokesperson from the Minist\u00e8re du D\u00e9veloppement durable, de l\u2019Environnement, de la Faune et des Parcs (MDDEFP), said that the provincial database can\u2019t be updated until the ministry receives and verifies technical reports so that it can confirm\u00a0that the work has been done properly. That hasn\u2019t happened.<\/p>\n
Sometimes it takes some time for the consultant to receive laboratory reports or other details that might be needed,\u201d she said. \u201cAs soon as the school board gets a satisfactory report from their consultant, they\u2019ll send it to us so that we can verify that the results conform to our requirements. If all that works out properly, then we\u2019ll report that the land has been rehabilitated on our records.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Proteau also provided more details about the work that was done.<\/p>\n
We learned of this file in 2006,\u201d she said. \u201cThey removed much of the contaminated soil in 2006, but the work was so close to the building that to remove any more soil would require structural supports for because the foundation would not support the building on its own if they continued. That was in autumn. So the school board put other soil in the excavation until the final project could be completed. It took several years to do that work, but it was done in 2013.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
When the Suburban told the Madame Proteau about the parent who complained, she suggested that any concerned parent should speak to the CLSC near the school to get support and ensure that proper tests are completed.<\/p>\n
Note: This article appeared on page 6 of the Laval edition of The Suburban yesterday.<\/p>\n
*This date appeared incorrectly in an earlier version.<\/p>\n
Previous Story on\u00a0February 13, 2014:<\/h1>\n
Crestview Elementary School Decontaminated<\/h1>\n
Parents at Crestview Elementary in Laval were told little about the big decontamination project in their schoolyard until a construction strike delayed the work.<\/span><\/p>\n
After winning the tender that went out on May 27, 2013, Les Paysagistes Damiano Inc. was supposed to finish the million dollar job before school restarted at the end of August.<\/p>\n
That didn\u2019t happen. Parents were told that the school wouldn\u2019t be able to open on time by phone and via letter from governing board chair Paul Leal in early August.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you know, the school yard at Crestview has been going through the decontamination process over the summer months and we have been getting regular updates on the work being done,\u201d he wrote. \u201cMost of the updates have been positive and on schedule. However, the last update wasn\u2019t so positive as the decontamination process has hit a few snags, particularly with the depth in which the oil has spread. Another factor that has added additional delays to the work being done was the heavy rains we recently had, complicating the decontamination process even further.\u201d<\/p>\n
Leal\u2019s letter doesn\u2019t mention the construction strike that school board commissioners were told was the reason for the delay at their August meeting.<\/p>\n
Instead of beginning at Crestview in August, 247 children were transported daily to Phoenix Alternative Elementary School. Crestview reopened on September 23.<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t the first time that environmental dangers have forced Crestview Elementary School to be cleaned up.<\/p>\n
An oil tank was due to be replaced in the summer of 2006, and that project got delayed a full year after an unusually-large oil leak was discovered. The same project also found contaminated soil on the grounds of Our Lady of Peace Elementary School, but it was minimal enough to be removed as soon as it was found.<\/p>\n
The Crestview oil tank couldn\u2019t be repaired until after Wilfrid Laurier School board officials approved the engagement of Gestenv on October 25, 2006. That $72,982.72 contract covered replacing the leaking oil tank, disposing of the contaminated soil beneath, backfilling and excavating.<\/p>\n
In 1999, the school board hired Isolation Algon\u00a0to remove friable asbestos from the building for $71,586.41.<\/p>\n
Last summer\u2019s decontamination and repaving cost more than ten times as much as either of those contracts\u2014a total of $1,057,068.19 with tax.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one third of the entire worth of the property according to Laval\u2019s tax rolls. The circa-1963 two-storey building at 750 Avenue du Devonshire is worth $1.7 million. The lot it sits on\u2014number 1189782\u2014measures 1,098,130 square metres and is evaluated at $1.4 million for a total property worth of $3.1 million.<\/p>\n
Approval of this latest clean-up also went through an altogether different process than what occurred in either 2006 or 1999. This time the decision was included within a three-year capital expenditure resolution (#CC-130626-MR-0192), which was approved last May. According to those minutes, Quebec\u2019s ministry of education (Minist\u00e8re de l\u2019\u00c9ducation, du Loisir et du Sport) and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board approved the amount under Quebec\u2019s \u201cpassif environnemental\u201d law, which normally is used to rehabilitate old mining sites.<\/p>\n
Crestview does appear on a list of contaminated lands maintained by Quebec\u2019s environment ministry. It is one of two schools in Laval on which cleanups are identified as \u201cnot completed.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to that site, the Crestview property is contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in addition to petroleum hydrocarbons C10 to C50. Hydrocarbons usually contain benzene, which is known to cause cancer in humans. Aromatic hydrocarbons are considered risky too because they can be absorbed through the skin or by breathing in addition to taking them in through the digestive system. Buildings located on or near hydrocarbon deposits are at risk for something known as \u201cvapour intrusion,\u201d in which airborne toxins infiltrate the premises causing breathing difficulties, fainting and headaches.<\/p>\n
The other \u201cnot completed\u201d rehabilitation is located at College Laurier. That site is contaminated with heavy metals.<\/p>\n
Leblanc Secondary School, St-G\u00e9rard, Coll\u00e8ge Laval, the Garderie Brins d’\u00c9veil, Le Virage and the Le Virage Annexe, Notre-Dame-de-Pontmain, Ste-C\u00e9cile, Ste-Marguerite, both St-Gilles pavilions, St-Norbert and four Commission scolaire de Laval buildings (956 mont\u00e9e Gravel,\u00a0 3730 boul. L\u00e9vesque Ouest, 475 66e Avenue and 800, place Sauv\u00e9 Laval) are all on the list too, but they were cleaned up in 2001 and 2002.<\/p>\n