Environmental concerns close two classrooms
By George P. Hassett

Contaminated soil from 50 Tufts St. caused two classrooms at the nearby Capuano School to be closed this week.  Tetrachloroethylene (TCE), a chemical used in the dry cleaning industry, has taken root underneath the soil of East Somerville and is moving around the neighborhood, said Superintendent of Schools Anthony Pierantozzi.

Pierantozzi stressed the two closed classrooms had elevated, yet still low, levels of TCE and were far above state standards. He said the classrooms were closed as an extreme precaution and to allow technicians free access to the rooms for testing and remediation. Students were moved into an alternative space in the building. The classrooms will remain closed until tests demonstrate “very low and stable levels” of TCE, he said.
  ‚ÄúIt‚Äôs important for parents to know that there were never any air quality levels close to being hazardous or unhealthy. We did this as a precaution,‚Äù Pierantozzi said.
  Consultants and state officials working at the Capuano School have reduced TCE levels by sealing pipes, changing air systems to increase fresh air in the rooms and increasing air flow in and out of the building, he said. 
The pollutants traveling from 50 Tufts St. most likely stem from the days when the address was used as a warehouse for the storage and transfer of TCE, said Ileen S. Gladstone, vice president of GEI, a Winchester-based environmental firm.
“After storing chemicals for 50 years there was likely a lot of spillage on the property,” she said last month at an alderman’s meeting.
In 2004, Father and Sons Moving Co., initiated an environmental investigation of the land as part of a deal to purchase it. What they found was a highly contaminated soil according to the Department of Environmental Protection. Since that time, state officials have been working with the UniFirst Corp., a previous owner of 50 Tufts St., and GEI Consultants to investigate the extent of the pollution, Gladstone said.
GEI has also found contamination in the soil of nearby Morton Street and is setting up tests for Milton and Dell streets.
“This is a problem for the entire neighborhood,” Pierantozzi said.