NORWICH A bridge in town is leaking toxic chemicals into a section of Blood Brook popular for swimming, and the town’s latest attempt to mitigate the leak is being met with skepticism from concerned residents.Norwich Town Manager Rod Francis said in.
After Burlington High School closed in September 2020 because PCB contamination was detected inside, some concerned parents banded together to create a group called Open.
A sign at Burlington High School Shortly after Burlington High School closed last September because of high levels of airborne toxic chemicals in its tech center building, district Superintendent Tom Flanagan got what he thought was encouraging news.
Further testing in the other five high school buildings found polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) levels between one and 300 nanograms per cubic meter, with an average of 98 nanograms still above Vermont s screening level of 15 nanograms per cubic meter but significantly below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency s guidelines of 500 to 600 nanograms for high school-age students and staff. I thought,
OK, we re going to be able to get back in here, Flanagan said. He even made what he called the rookie superintendent move of telling the girls soccer team that things looked good for a return to campus.
Foraging season has begun, and already, one Vermonter looking for ramps has been fooled by the plant s poisonous look-alike: false hellebore.
Vermont Health Department officials are urging Vermonters to know the differences between ramps and false hellebore before foraging and eating the plants.
“Eating false hellebore can be very dangerous,” said Sarah Vose, state toxicologist with the Vermont Department of Health. “You can be enjoying a meal one minute and then need to be rushed to the hospital.”
False hellebore contains poisonous chemicals called alkaloids, the Health Department said in a news release. Eating the plant causes people to be very sick, sometimes enough to be hospitalized.
Ramps, false hellebore and skunk cabbage. VDH images
Beware of a dangerous imposter if you are foraging for ramps this spring
Vermont Business Magazine Wild leeks, also known as ramps (
Allium tricoccum), are a wild edible that many Vermonters enjoy each spring. If you are foraging for them, be careful to not mistake the ramps for a poisonous lookalike plant called false hellebore.
The young leaves of American false hellebore (
Veratrum viride) are often mistaken for ramps. False hellebore contains poisonous chemicals called alkaloids, and eating false hellebore can make people very sick, enough to hospitalize them.
According to the Northern New England Poison Center there has been at least one reported poisoning in Vermont so far this year. Last year, the poison control center managed 25 cases involving Vermonters with possible false hellebore poisoning, more than four times the usual number.