Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
REPORT: SCHOOL IS SAFE
Controversial campus review criticised by mum
St Ambrose and Buchanan High Schools reopened to pupils today – after the independent review into health concerns at the Coatbridge campus concluded that “the site and schools are safe” with no link to illness.
Review panel co-chair Dr Margaret Hannah shared its findings that the site’s water is of drinking quality, methane membrane layer is suitable with no gases being detected and that all but one of more than 60 soil samples from across the site pose no concerns.
The report concluded that there was “no causal link” between attending the school and either the five reported cancer cases among staff in recent years, or the loss of sight of a pupil with elevated arsenic levels.
Experts identified elevated levels of industrial chemical polychlorinated biphenyls ( PCBs) at one sample pit area, on a patch of grass between the school building and community centre; and instructed that the contamination be removed from the patch of land as a “precautionary measure”.
Dr Hannah told the Advertiser: “In summary, the site is safe and the school is safe; we didn’t find any connections between the health concerns that were raised as part of the review around the cancer cluster and the blindness in the child.
“We did further tests around water quality – I think people are aware that the blue water was due to copper, which doesn’t cause cancer or any significant health effects – and our own sampling passed the drinking water quality standards.
“For the soil findings, there are some soft landscaped areas and that’s what we sampled. You take into account how much of this site is actually covered by tarmac, artificial surfaces or the school itself – the people who are here are not in contact with the underlying ground.
“There was one small localised area where we found raised concentrations, but not sufficient to cause any immediate impact on health and the likelihood of that having created any actual harm is very low. We recommend that the local authority does the right kind of remediation just as a complete precautionary measure.”
She said of the cancer cases: “I was able to review what the public health department had done around their assessment of the possibilities of there being a connection with the school – and I agreed that this was most likely a chance finding.
“Cancer clusters are common, but to find a cause for them is very rare.
“It’s not easy to communicate a negative, when you want to make sense of what you’ve seen – a group of people with cancer all [at] the same school – as that’s our natural way of thinking.
“The public health department have been very careful to take all of the information and work towards a systematic approach; the important thing is that they took those concerns seriously.
“They also looked at the blue water because that had been the possible link at the start; when they found that copper didn’t cause cancer they still went on in case there might have been another link but didn’t find anything at that stage either.”
Led by Dr Hannah and Scottish Government chief planning reporter Paul Cackette, the review also determined that further water quality sampling should be carried out and that information on the methane membrane should be published.
It also calls for the establishment of a “fully participative site recovery group” including parent, staff and union representatives plus independent experts to monitor water, maintenance and gas membrane issues as well as investigating indoor air quality issues.
The group will also produce an annual site assessment and take any required action, provide a channel for concerns and “to support future confidence in the
Cancer clusters are common, but to find a cause for them is very rare
site”, and Dr Hannah said: “It’s trying to bring a sense of ownership back to the school and community.
“I would advise there to be an independent chair, maybe an expert with some knowledge of this sort of issue, and the point is that essentially the group bring the council and if necessary public health people to their meetings to explain anything they don’t understand or where they need more information.”
North Lanarkshire Council’s response to the emerging concerns was described as “too slow, too defensive and too disconnected from the school communities”, with the report adding: “There are matters that the council and NHS Lanarkshire could have done better and from which they must learn.”
Dr Hannah said: “Certainly the council could have addressed the blue water issue earlier, recognising that after two or three years this is no longer a brand-new building and if you’ve still got a problem, it needs to be investigated.
“In terms of current management, they’ve done really well in terms of getting on top of some of that, the water issue in particular; they’ve been much more proactive, replacing all the pipes including the mains supply.
“These are such complex issues that to describe it in one leaflet isn’t enough because people are going to come back with more questions – you’ve got to be ready to come back with more and more information and be able to address individual concerns.
“If you do it repeatedly, reliably and in a transparent way you can get the confidence rebuilt, and I think that’s the role the site recovery group is going to have going forward.”
She said that she would send her own children to school at the Townhead Road campus, and said: “What I’d like people to be able to do is to read the review, become informed and use the facts and evidence we’ve put in there before they make their decision.
“Parents are going to need to take their time to consider the findings, and I’m really hoping that this report goes a long way to answering the questions people have.
“In their own time they can come to their own decisions about bringing their children here, restoring a sense of confidence and enjoying the education you can have here.”