An Open Letter to Greenwich High School Students and Teachers:
Everyone knows the Greenwich High School campus is full of deadly poison: PCBs; Arsenic; Heavy Metals; Chlordane; Asbestos; PAH; Lead; Chromium; etc. and that Greenwich High School students and teachers are exposed to these poisons every day they go to school. Some of these poisons will remain in your bodies for the rest of your lives.
Because of your exposure, some of you will die sooner than if you had not been exposed. Some of you will have children with birth defects. Some of you will be chronically ill for your entire lives.
There are things you can do to mitigate these risks. If the Board of Education and your parents will not do these things for you, you must do them for yourselves–the sooner the better.
1. Avoid additional exposure to these chemicals.
2. Test yourself for these poisons for the rest of your life to try to keep yourself safe; to extend your life; to keep you comfortable, to protect your children.
3. Refuse to attend or work in unsafe schools.
Half the parents in this Town are sending their kids to safe high schools. Half the high school teachers in this Town are working in safe high schools. The State of Connecticut and The Town of Greenwich are legally obligated to provide safe schools for the rest of you.
Make sure your parents enroll you in a safe high school. Refuse to work in an unsafe work environment.
Sooner or later GHS will be closed. The Town will agree to pay all your medical expenses and damages. Neither The Board of Education, nor your parents, will ever be able to explain to you why they allowed you to be repeatedly exposed to these toxins; even after Greenwich High School was known to be unsafe; but it has happened, and you will have to live with the consequences for the rest of your lives.
Don’t make a bad situation worse.
Just say “NO!” to Greenwich High School.
Bill Effros
Greenwich