Soil Sample Shows Pesticides at West Brook Middle School Grounds

The Paramus school district is awaiting word on what the next steps will be following a recent report that soil at West Brook Middle School contains levels of pesticides above the environmental standard.

A recent test of the soil at both East Brook and West Brook sites in preparation of future work to put in underground electric lines to lights schools signs revealed that the soil at West Brook "showed the presence of five pesticide compounds above the Residential Direct Contact Soil Criteria, RK Occupational and Environmental Analysis reported to the district in a letter dated June 26.

The letter has been posted on the district website and Superintendent Ken Rota has notified all parents at the West Brook Middle School in a letter notifying them of the test results and that the pesticides "do not pose any special exposure to anyone present" as the soil had not been disturbed aside from the sample taken, reported NJ.com.

The letter directs the district to communicate the results to the NJ Department of Environmental Protection and suggests more testing will be needed. The sample showed elevated levels of the pesticides aldrin, dieldrin and chlordane all which had been banned in the late 1980s according to NJ.com.

Rota told Patch Monday the district is now waiting for experts to direct what the next efforts will be. He says he will continue to notify parents when new information is available.

According to an NJ.com report the site had been remediated back in 2007 when the same three pesticides named in this report were found at the site. The school had been closed for months during the remediation and reports said no further clean up was needed when the school reopened that same year the report says.

During this time period school officials had failed to reveal the contamination which led to two resignations and the signing of a state law requiring that school trustees notify parents of contamination of school sites, according to NJ.com.