NEWPORT — The identification of an “uncontrolled hazardous substance site” in Corinna apparently caught several SAD 48 school board members by surprise Tuesday night.

At a meeting of the board’s building committee, Newport resident Trudy Ferland raised several questions concerning the site about two-tenths of a mile from the current school and the proposed location of a new multi-million dollar middle school. She offered information about the site, the resultant water contamination in Corinna and questioned its potential effect on plans to locate the new middle school there.

Among the agenda items for the committee Tuesday night was the content of an informational brochure on the proposed middle school project. A district-wide referendum on the design and site location of the school will be held Nov. 5.

Ferland cited a newspaper article published Friday concerning water cleanup plans in Corinna and presented a copy of a Department of Environmental Protection report identifying the location of the Corinna site and as many as 10 wells that have been contaminated by chlorobenzene compounds. The report cited the effects of the compounds as a “chronic exposure hazard.”

After reading from the DEP report, Ferland listed nine questions she hoped to have the committee or the school administration respond to concerning the planned school construction:

Were you aware of this problem?

Has the full board been made aware?

What role does the DEP play in approving our building site?

Have you informed the Department of Education, the Department of Human Services or the Bureau of Public Health that our new building is within “spitting distance” of an uncontrolled hazardous substance site?

If water contamination causes us to reconsider the site location, will we lose our funding?

Is the town or school district getting into a liability problem (if the school is constructed there)?

Have any air quality studies been done?

Are there any laws that protect our children from potential environmental risks?

Is it wise to place a school so close to a potential Superfund Hazardous Waste Site?

The building committee answered only the first two questions asked by Ferland, telling her that that board members were unaware of the situation. Her presentation raised new questions and concerns among committee members.

Superintendent Raymond Freve was urged to contact the DEP regarding Ferland’s questions. Steve Strout, chairman of the building committee, assured Ferland that the committee would investigate the problem of potential water contamination at the new school.

Keith Shorey said, “We need to establish first that this is a problem.”

Chairman Kenneth Dixon said that the possible relocation of the building site could jeopardize funding, and the building’s architect said the investigation would only delay the project. However, both Shorey and Dixon agreed that the problem deserved further investigation.

“Under no circumstances,” said Freve, “do we have anything to gain by jeopardizing our children. Their protection is the utmost priority.”