The following is a statement from Greenwich’s Board of Selectmen: First Selectman Fred Camillo, Selectwoman Lauren Rabin and Selectperson Janet Stone McGuigan.
The board is urging all residents who want to get involved to write to the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to support the remediation of Western Middle School’s athletic fields. All emails should be sent to CT DEEP’s Remediation Project Manager Jeffrey Wilcox at [email protected].
The board is also encouraging residents to attend a Jan. 11 public hearing, which is being held both virtually and in person at Western Middle School, at 6 p.m. with both the CTDEEP and the Connecticut Environmental Protection Agency. People will be able to share their opinions and ask questions about the status of the project.
The following was sent to Mr. Wilcox and CTDEEP:
The Greenwich Board of Selectmen stands united behind the effort to remediate Western Middle School’s playing fields.
Students at Western have been denied the chance to use their own playing fields for far too long. Western’s community has waited six years for the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to take action and the time is now for this overdue remediation.
Western Middle School is a Title I school and is also a feeder middle school for two of the Town of Greenwich’s Title I elementary schools. It is not fair or right that Western’s children have not been able to use their fields. Kids have gone through the entirety of their time in middle school, which are critical years, without once being able to step on the grass and enjoy themselves like other students have been able to do at their schools.
Greenwich’s Board of Selectmen is seeking a remediation directive that will appropriately protect our children’s health from toxic soil. We do not want to expose our children to environmental risk, but outdoor activity is also essential to their health and well-being.
We should not have to make a choice between the two. Please take action now to remediate these fields.