City of Pensacola Office of the America’s First Settlement Mayor and City Councit Established 1559 April 28, 2009 Mr. Shawn Dennis Assistant Superintendent - Operations The School District of Escambia County 215 West Garden Street Pensacola, FL 32502 Re: School Board Property Purchase 75 N. Pace Boulevard Dear Mr. Dennis: 1 am writing in response to your letter of April 20, 2009, regarding the Escambia County Schoo! Board’s proposed elementary school site on Pace Boulevard. I appreciate your response on behalf of the School Board and welcome input from all stakeholders and concerned citizens. As an. elected City Council member, I have a duty to my constituents to respond to their concerns, as so, Thave received many calls from local citizens who are concerned about the contamination that may exist at this site. From information obtained through local government employees and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Agency, as you stated in paragraph 5 of your letter, there seems to be consensus that more testing is warranted. This testing should include testing for PCBs and heavy metals. Additionally, testing locations should be expanded and cover the entire site, as the previous study did not go ofisite to track down the source of the contamination and to make sure that the source is not still active and that future contamination will not continue to migrate onto the school property. Furthermore, it is felt that a study needs to be done by a hydrogeologist who has extensive experience in mapping sediment and groundwater contamination, determining the source of such contamination, and developing a clean up plan, Utilizing a hydrogeologist is preferred over a biologist or ecologist. 180 Governmental Center RO. Bow 12910 Pensacola, Florida 32521 Telephone (850) 435-1600 FAX (850) 495-1611I am sure that everyone concerned is interested insuring that every step is taken to eliminate any possibility of endangering the health of school children, faculty members, and all citizens of this community who might visit this site. I welcome further discussions on this issue. ce: Sipcerely, Larry B.Johnton District Four (ity Council Member Mike Wiggins, Mayor City Council Members Al Coby, City Manager Emerald Coastkeeper Board Members Rusty Wells, City Attorney Malcolm Thomas, Superintendent Norm Ross, Deputy Superintendent Patricia Hightower, Board Chairman Ron Peacock, Director ~ Facilities Planning Linda English, Executive Assistant - Superintendent