Toxic Dorms at SUNY New Paltz?

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen Jul 18, 2007

As college students move into their new dorm rooms, their biggest concerns are usually getting along with their roommate and shopping for dorm room necessities.

Most students aren't concerned about the possibility that their room might be a major health hazard.

Unfortunately, at SUNY New Paltz, many students may find themselves wondering if their room might contain dangerous levels of deadly carcinogens. A heated debate rages on about whether four of the dorms there are safe. In 1991, the explosion of a PCB generator contaminated four dormitories, along with a science building and a theater, with high levels of PCBs and dioxin. The buildings were cleaned, but environmentalists argue that the buildings have never been properly tested and contain dangerous levels of carcinogens.

Want to know more? Read Victoria Anisman-Reiner's article about possible PCB Health Risks for SUNY Students. Andread Debbie Kwiatowski's article for the other side of the SUNY New Paltz story.

SUNY has strongly denied the accusation that buildings on their campus are dangerous. In a statement about the 1991 PCB incident on the SUNY New Paltz website, the school claims that extensive cleaning and testing has been done, and that routine monitoring of the buildings for toxins continues. They also state that in 1994, "SUNY New Paltz became the first SUNY campus to be 100 percent PCB transformer-free."

I sincerely hope that SUNY is right. Basic safety is one of the minimum expectations students should have of their college or university-- a fact reinforced by the Virginia Tech massacre last semester. Clearly this situation needs to be resolved, for the sake of the student's safety and the reputation of the school.