School Cleared After Spill

Brooklyn elementary school was evacuated yesterday after a small bottle containing the pesticide malathion shattered inside a janitor's closet in a second-grade classroom

(As children were passing out, becoming dizzy or vomiting, official says evacuation was only "precautionary" - Read Comment)

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Subject:  School Cleared After Spill--------
Date:     Fri, 15 Sep 2000 08:55:38 -0400
From:        Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

Dear Mr. Helliker: I thought you might like to read a New York Times article that appeared 9/15/00 entitled: School Cleared After Spill.

Brooklyn elementary school was evacuated yesterday after a small bottle containing the pesticide malathion shattered inside a janitor's closet in a second-grade classroom, the authorities said.

Hundreds of students were led out of the school, Public School 21 in Ocean Hill, and 10 children and 3 adults were taken to Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center, where they were treated for nausea and released, said Detective Joseph Pentangelo, a police spokesman.

The Board of Education is investigating why the pesticide was on a shelf at the school, at 180 Chauncey Street, north of Fulton Street, said a spokeswoman, Margie Feinberg.

"We don't know how it got there or why it was in the closet, and the superintendent has launched a major investigation into it," Ms. Feinberg said. "That insecticide is not permitted anywhere inside our school facilities."

The bottle held 10 ounces of malathion. It fell and broke when a teacher opened the closet door. Noting that the spill was small, a spokeswoman for the City Health Department, Sandra Mullin, said serious health risks were unlikely.

Well Mr. Helliker, accidents always happen, there is no way to prevent them - unless you use safe and far more effective alternatives.

Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten

(Note:  Does knowing that this was the same pesticides sprayed over New York and many other residential areas make you feel better?)

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