Calls to close Coatbridge health fear schools early for summer
- Published
The campus is shared by two schools - St Ambrose High and Buchanan High
Calls are increasing for two Coatbridge schools at the centre of chemical contamination fears to be closed early for the summer holidays.
The NASUWT teaching union suggested Buchanan and St Ambrose high schools break up before the end of term while health concerns are investigated.
MSP Fulton MacGregor and local councillors also want the site shut down during an independent review.
It comes as teachers at St Ambrose High say they will join a planned strike.
Members from the NASUWT union at St Ambrose High will join colleagues from neighbouring Buchanan High as they walk out over health concerns.
'Full site survey'
Buchanan teachers will strike from Thursday and St Ambrose members will join them from the following Tuesday.
The union has also demanded that the local authority carries out a full site survey.
Concerns over the safety of the Townhead education campus have escalated in recent weeks after it emerged four current or retired teachers at Buchanan High have been treated for cancer.
Hundreds of people attended a public meeting to discuss the concerns
Parents raised concern at a public meeting over nosebleeds, sickness and other similar symptoms amongst pupils at the schools.
Then on Wednesday, the Scottish government announced an independent review into health and safety at the campus.
However, parents said it did not go far enough and called for medical testing for children at the schools.
The NASUWT welcomed the review in principle but said it would proceed with strike action already planned for Buchanan High teachers.
Risk assessment
Teachers from St Ambrose will bring the number of those taking part in industrial action to about 40.
A union spokeswoman told the BBC Scotland news website: " We met with members at St Ambrose today to address their continuing anxieties and concerns and will meet with North Lanarkshire Council on Tuesday.
"We have written to them and asked for a full site survey to be undertaken. There were a number of areas of concern before the schools were built and we would like to see an updated risk assessment of toxic substances. This survey should provide proof that the site is safe.
"Our members would also like to see the council close these schools early for summer."
The MSP joined councillors to call for the school's closure while an investigation takes place.
Des Murray, chief executive of North Lanarkshire Council said: "Specialist doctors from the public health department of NHS Lanarkshire have confirmed that no incidence of cancer is linked to the schools. They have also confirmed that no other serious illness is connected to the schools or the site on which they are built.
"All the facts from all the lead organisations continue to confirm that the schools and the site on which they are built are safe.
"The council will continue to liaise directly with trade unions on matters of concern to staff and officers met with staff at a meeting on site today. We will also be sending parents and carers detailed factual information by post this week."
Initial concerns over the site emerged last year after blue-tinted water was discovered coming from taps.
Tests revealed higher than recommended levels of copper. This was attributed to corrosion and the council replaced pipework at the site.
On Wednesday, Deputy First Minister John Swinney announced an immediate independent review into health and safety at the two schools in the hope of providing reassurance.
Why are there worries about the Townhead Road campus?
The Townhead Road campus in Coatbridge was completed in 2012
The campus, which takes in the two schools and the Townhead Road community centre, opened in 2012 on a site that was used as landfill for lead, arsenic and other industrial waste between 1945 and 1972.
In March last year, bottled water was used at the high schools after blue water was discovered coming from pipes, with tests later revealing higher than recommended levels of copper.
Officials said this was due to corrosion, but insisted there was no health risk. Copper piping at the campus has since been replaced with plastic pipes.
Fears about the safety of the site came to a head in recent weeks after it emerged that four former or current members of staff at Buchanan High had received treatment for cancer.
However, the council and health board said specialist doctors had confirmed that no incidence of cancer - or any other serious illness - was caused by the schools or the site on which they were built.
And they said that all the evidence showed that the schools and the wider campus were safe.
A public health expert told a public meeting that the cancers involved had long latency periods - the length of time between exposure to environmental triggers and developing symptoms - suggesting that the school site could not be to blame for teachers' illnesses.
On land next to the school there are ditches of water
The site, on Townhead Road, was previously used by Gartsherrie Ironworks for industrial waste.
It is believed waste stored there included chemicals and hazardous substances such as arsenic, nickel, and lead, which has sparked contamination concerns.
The Scottish government said the review, which was agreed with the council and health board, would be completed before the next school year begins in August.
North Lanarkshire Council has created a leaflet to provide further information and reassurance, which can be downloaded from its website, external.
- Published12 June 2019
- Published13 June 2019
