ISLAND TREES UNION FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT

Office of the Superintendent

74 Farmedge Road Levittown, New York 11756

(516) 520 -2100

                                                                                                                 March 10, 2008

Dear Parents/Guardians:

Approximately two years ago, during the summer of 2006, you may recall that the high school was closed for the summer to complete a lead remediation project.  The remediation involved the removal of lead fragments and dust from a sand tunnel beneath the school that were deposited there from the school’s former rifle range that was closed sometime during the mid 1980s.  The project was completed successfully in cooperation with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH).  Staff from both agencies was on site during the project as well as staff from the environmental engineering firm, J. R. Holzmacher, P.E. LLC, hired by the district to manage this project.  Extensive testing and some post cleaning were completed with favorable results prior to the start of school in September 2006.

Recently, a resident filed a complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) about this project.  This prompted the EPA to meet with me and our consulting engineer to review this past project.  Representatives from the NYSDEC and NCDOH were also present.  While everyone agreed that the project was indeed successfully completed back in 2006, we decided, jointly, to retest certain areas of the high school as a matter of due diligence to once again ensure that no sources of lead contamination, related to the management of the former rifle range, still exist, which could potentially put students and staff at risk.  This event will take place on March 20, 2008 and will consist of wipe sampling with split sampling to be performed by both a contractor hired by our district and the Nassau County Department of Health (NCDOH).  All sampling will be conducted under the oversight of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The EPA will review the data validation procedures of both laboratories conducting analyses to further ensure the credibility and integrity of the data.

As always, be assured you will be kept informed.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

                                                                                                                  Sincerely,

                                                                                                                  James Parla

                                                                                                                  Superintendent of Schools

cc:     Board of Education

         J.R. Holzmacher, P.E. LLC

         EPA

         NYSDEC

         NCDOH