Toxic PCBs linger in schools; EPA, lawmakers fail to act

This combination of images from April 28, 2014, and July 15, 2016, respectively, and provided by teacher Cynthia Yost, shows black residue from a failed fluorescent light ballast, left, and a carpet sample from the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Wash. Teachers at the public K-12 school took samples from their rooms and had them tested for toxic polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The teachers claim that several samples, including air filters, had elevated levels of PCBs, which were used in building materials and fluorescent light ballasts until the chemicals were banned in the late 1970s. (Cynthia Yost via AP)
In this Feb. 4, 2019, photo, Steven Harris, a grandfather and former city council member, looks inside the abandoned John C. Clark Elementary and Middle School in Hartford, Conn. The school was closed in 2015 after toxic PCBs were found during a renovation. It is one of several Hartford public schools built during the era when PCBs were commonly used in school construction in caulk, floor adhesive and certain types of fluorescent light ballasts. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)
In this Jan. 4, 2019, photo, a toxicology team gathers samples inside the Sky Valley Education Center school in Monroe, Wash. The samples were tested for PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, as well as dioxins and furans. A lawsuit filed on behalf of several families and teachers claims that officials failed to adequately respond to PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the school. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Oct. 9, 2019, photo, people walk near an entrance to the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Wash. A lawsuit filed on behalf of several families and teachers claims that officials failed to adequately respond to PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, in the school. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Sept. 12, 2019, photo, Cynthia Yost, who used to teach at the Sky Valley Education Center in Monroe, Wash., poses for a photo in Mercer Island, Wash. Yost was among teachers who sent pieces of carpet and classroom air filters to a lab that found elevated levels of PCBs, toxic chemicals used as coolant in old fluorescent light ballasts. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
In this Feb. 5, 2019, photo, a student waits for a bus outside the abandoned John C. Clark Elementary and Middle School in Hartford, Conn. The school was closed in 2015 after toxic PCBs were found during a renovation. Many students in the neighborhood now must travel long distances to get to other schools. (AP Photo/Martha Irvine)

MONROE, Wash. — At first, teachers at Sky Valley Education Center simply evacuated students and used fans to clear the air when the fluorescent lights caught fire or smoked with noxious fumes. When black oil dripped onto desks and floors, they caught leaks with a bucket and duct-taped oil-stained carpets.