WHAT ARE THE TECH FILES?
The Tech Files are a series of environmental reports embedded in the project manuals for 3 upcoming construction projects at City Tech: DASNY #CR28 (Renovation of Computer Labs in Voorhees, Namm, and General), DASNY #CR29 (Namm Complex Fire Alarm Modifications), and DASNY #CR04 (Namm Building Hot Water Perimeter Heating System and Asbestos Abatement Project).
These renovation/construction plans initially seem designed to put a casual reader to sleep. Each one contains 1000+ pages of contract language, DASNY policies, blueprints, and details of construction plans.
In the middle of all that, though, are analyses from certified environmental investigators and accredited laboratories, whom DASNY commissioned, of the physical state of construction areas (the "scope of work").
Understanding the results requires a bit of a crash course in reading asbestos, lead, and PCB lab results. The "plain English" summaries of results, by consultants Matrix New World Engineering, are about as dry as (non-moldy) dust. But once you piece it together, the picture of City Tech's campus becomes scary as hell.
According to the Tech Files, City Tech's problems go way beyond missing ceiling tiles and dingy bathrooms. They confirm serious mold throughout Namm's ventilation, not to mention a potentially massive rodent issue.
Worse, the lab samples of building materials show, throughout campus, high concentrations of asbestos, lead paint, and PCBs, the "original forever chemical". In the case of lead, these concentrations can be hundreds of times above the EPA's legal limit.
At this site, we'll be breaking down some of the most disturbing findings, like the above discovery of "36% chrysotile" concentrations of asbestos in the "friable" material of the stairwell outside Namm 227. (Translation: the material has concentrations 36x the legal limit (1%) and is very likely to crumble into inhalable particles.)
Or . . . well, this kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Or the above findings in Pearl 621's "poor" condition paint, of lead concentrations 100+ times the legal limit (.009%).
Or the below confirmation of PCB-containing ballasts on campus, which NYC high schools systematically removed a decade ago because of their highly toxic content.
All the above is literally sickening. But the administration's response to the reports, which it's had for five months, is even more sickening. Instead of immediately closing off hazardous areas and making emergency plans for spring semester, the school invited us all to register and show up. It turns out that CUNY's indifference may be the greatest hazard of all.
Some might say that we're starting a panic. But that's only if we stay scared, instead of getting pissed off: at an administration that's exposed us to known carcinogens, that thinks cleaning up later will keep us safe now, and that assumes we won't piece it together. As we walk through the Tech files, remember: we aren't helpless. We can fight back. We can hold CUNY leadership accountable for gross negligence. And we can finally clear the air.