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District tackles radon
Four classrooms, the technology area and gymnasium were ordered closed in March after further testing was conducted.
"We need to do this now," school board President Dave Magill said. "It's our goal to have it finished before the start of the school year."
Students have had to exercise in the hallways and outside, and officials want the radon issue resolved before classes begin Sept. 7. The school's enrollment is about 750.
The board is expected to award an $82,000 radon mitigation contract to Radon Detection & Control of South Heights, Beaver County, during its meeting at 7:30 p.m. at the administration building, 9000 Gateway Campus Blvd.
L. Robert Kimball & Associates of Coraopolis, an air quality contractor the district hired to test all eight of its buildings for radon, asbestos and mold, discovered radon gas in six rooms at the middle school in January.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Allegheny County Health Department said the elevated levels of radon posed no direct or immediate health risks to the students and staff. But school officials decided as a precaution to close off four regular classrooms, the technology education area and the gymnasium until the problem was corrected. Classes were shifted to other available classrooms, and some students had physical education classes in an auxiliary gymnasium, and others did alternative activities in hallways and outside.
The radon readings were 10 to 30 times higher than the average indoor level.
A colorless, gaseous radioactive element, radon is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States. It is derived from the radioactive decay of radium and is used in cancer treatment. Radon is found in soil and rock beneath homes, well water and building materials.
Radon Detection & Control was hired to investigate the source of the problem and to create a plan to rid the school of the radon.
The company is proposing:
"It's going to be difficult," said John Mallon, owner of Radon Detection & Control. "It's like a rat maze underneath (the school). But we can have it done by the start of school."
Mallon said he could order the materials and begin work the day after the contract is approved.
School officials said they don't want the problem to linger or get worse.
Moss Side Elementary was closed for nearly a year as crews worked to remove mold and asbestos discovered in various areas of the school, including the roof, air ducts and classrooms. The administration reopened the school in January 2003 for the more than 300 students who had been relocated to other schools, mainly Moss Side Middle School and University Park Elementary School.
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