HMMS Communication re: PCBs

September 15, 2026

Dear HMMS Teaching and Learning Community,

As many of you are aware, this past June, we began Facilities project work at HMMS to replace the chimney at the school.

During this project, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, commonly known as PCBs, were discovered in paint sampled in areas scheduled for demolition. As is our established practice and to remain in compliance with state and federal regulations related to the presence of these chemicals and the resultant concerns about safety, these results were reported to the state through the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC); the guidance that the state provided at that time was that demolition materials would need to be managed and disposed of at an appropriate facility, but beyond that, no additional involvement from the DEC or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was required. 

In August of this year, in preparation for additional work in the building, paint samples were collected in the HMMS gymnasium, and those samples also detected low levels of PCBs. We have been informed by the state that the concentration of PCBs in paint samples is very low and does not prompt further testing or regulatory oversight.

As shared previously, when HMMS was initially tested through the state's mandated PCB testing program in 2023, the air sample results at HMMS at the time were well below the School Action Level (SAL) and the Immediate Action Level (IAL), which would have prompted mandated quarterly air sampling, as we are required to do at Hartford High School and at the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center. (Here is a link to the state's PCB database, where you can access those test results).

In following state guidance, we have been informed that while we do not have to conduct air testing based on our previous testing results, we do need to proceed under the applicable federal and state regulations and assume that we are acting in a safe manner, which means that any Facilities work that requires demolition or any penetration of surfaces with paint that consists of these materials, will need to undergo abatement before we can proceed with any related projects.

In short, as long as these materials are not disrupted, the state has no safety concerns. Any project work that involves disruption of these materials will be flagged by our Facilities department to schedule work with an abatement contractor present. 

We will continue to work with the state through the DEC as well as the Department of Health and Human Services, and will set up an opportunity with representatives from these departments to answer any questions and respond to any concerns you may have.

In the meantime, we will collect any questions you may have and send them along to these departments and report back with any information we are able to provide; we are also sharing a link found on the website for the Vermont Agency of Health and Human Services, where more information about PCBs can be found.

Thank you for your support as we continue to navigate this unpredictable challenge.

Caty Sutton

Superintendent