UPDATE 3:36 p.m Operations staff have confirmed the air quality in Helen Gorman Elementary School is safe despite students being relocated to nearby Glenrosa Middle School and studying in the gymnasium for much of the day Monday. A statement from Okanagan Public Schools indicates the odor was determined to be from a sealant being used in maintenance of the school’s foundation. “In proactive radon screening across the Central Okanagan in recent months, two areas of the school tested close to the Health Canada recommended threshold for mitigation of 200 Bq/m3 (The unit of measurement is the becquerel). Health Canada recommends that mitigations be completed within two years where levels are found to be between 200 and 600 Bq/m3. Central Okanagan Public Schools has been proactive in testing radon levels at all school sites and takes immediate action to mitigate any levels found even slightly near the threshold for mitigation,” states a news release from the school board. Screening results in the Central Okanagan indicated that nearly every school was below Health Canada’s recommended threshold for mitigation. In the parts of any schools that were found to be near that threshold, mitigations have either already been completed or are in progress. ORIGINAL 3:00 p.m A West Kelowna elementary school had to be evacuated Monday morning. Central Okanagan School District superintendent Kevin Kaardal tells Castanet that School District 23, like many school districts in the province, is testing for Radon and mitigating any issues. “We’ve been proactively testing schools for radon because of health concerns.” Kaardal says one of the tests at Helen Gorman Elementary school turned up low levels of radon in several rooms and out of an abundance of caution mitigation work was done over the weekend. “What happened today, isn’t that. They were in fixing filters, doing our normal mitigation process. They had done a sealant over the weekend, and one of the cracks where you can get a leak,” Kaardal says the ventilation system wasn’t ‘t working properly Monday morning so students were moved to another school out of an abundance of caution. “There’s no health risk to it, we just moved the kids to Glenrosa Middle School and then their parents came to pick them up at the end of the day,” says Kaardal. According to the BC government’s website, “radon is a gas that has no colour, odor or taste. It is produced by the radioactive decay of uranium in soil, rock and water. Radon is found in almost all parts of Canada.” Kaardal says all of the filters and air ventilation systems at Helen Gorman elementary have now been fixed, “it’ll be fine tomorrow.” According to the BC Center for Disease Control, “schools are a potential source of radon exposure for staff and students. School districts have a legal responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all occupants. Therefore, schools and school districts should include radon in their routine indoor air quality maintenance programs.” YouTube
