KEPT SECRET: REPORT REVEALS BIG ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES ON SITE OF NEW VIRGINIA PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

A significant environmental problem is still present, underground, at the site of the new Virginia Park Elementary School. The issue needs to be exposed to the public, and better understood by everyone, before construction continues; that is if the new school should be built on this site at all. 

This Post is intended to "kick-start" that overdue conversation and release the, until now, secret Report.

Here are the salient facts:

The provincial government has been in possession, since April 2015, of a document entitled “DRAFT FINAL REPORT ON SUPERVISION OF CONTAMINATED SOIL REMOVAL DURING SITE PREPARATION WORK”, New Virginia Park Elementary School Site, St. John’s, NL.

As the title suggests, contaminated material has already been removed from the area where the structure is located. But the Report confirms that heavy metals and other dangerous metals are still present in the soil, at least along the north and northeast boundary of the site. The area of contamination remains undefined. The contaminants have the potential to threaten human health.

WATERFORD VALLEY HIGH: ANOTHER "COVER-UP"

Wall supports lay in the parking lot of Waterford Valley High
awaiting installation

When NLESD chief, Darrin Pike, gave a tour on September 3^rd, 2015 to Premier Paul Davis, the cabinet, and community members, the brand new $38 million Waterford Valley High School was not ready for occupancy.

But the 800 students of the school and their teachers were permitted to start classes anyway in early September. They could not have known a “cover-up” was underway.

The contractor had failed to install steel wall supports which were part of the structural steel package necessary to warrant a “sign-off” from the structural engineer.

COVER-UP AT RONCALLI SCHOOL

Was there a conscious and deliberate decision taken, in 2014, to cover up an incident involving the collapse of a cinder block wall at Roncalli School?

Who knew of the incident? And who took the decision to bury the issue?

These questions are just a beginning.

Who would argue safety at a school is an imperative?

It seems not everyone.

The provincial government chose to permit Roncalli School, located in the Airport Heights area of St. John’s, to continue to function even as it underwent reconstruction on a piecemeal basis.  

Roncalli became a school and a construction zone at the same time. That decision held inherent risks, and not just with respect to the additional cost of carrying on a major construction project on an occupied premises.

The risk of combining two incompatible activities demanded the highest possible safety standard for the 410 students enrolled K to Grade 6, distributed throughout 21 classrooms; the statistics provided on the School’s web site.