HARRISBURG, Pa. — Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC) has temporarily closed the Senator Jeffrey E. Piccola Law Enforcement Training Complex on its main campus.
The shooting range inside is used by students as well as municipal and regional police and civilians who pay.
The building has been closed for nearly two weeks, with no sign of reopening, after elevated lead levels were found during a Sept. 6 lead monitoring test of the range.
According to a post on the school's website, that test was completed after an instructor’s blood levels for lead showed results above OSHA standards.
"Once we learned of the situation we addressed it, we took care of it, we brought all kinds of resources together to evaluate it," said John J. "Ski" Sygielski, president and CEO of Harrisburg Area Community College.
The building was closed on September 20.
Sygielski says it took time for the September 6 test results to come back.
He told FOX43 that thorough cleaning began on September 21.
“Having balancing of the filtration of the airflow systems, looking at the maintenance which is ongoing by our staff, we had a local company come in and do air testing through the classrooms, the office areas," said Sygielski.
Classrooms and offices have been moved to other parts of campus and the school is working to find another range to use in the meantime.
“So we can schedule those spaces so our students, cadets will be able to accomplish their goals before graduating in December," explained Sygielski.
The school is also paying for any students, staff or clients who want to have lead exposure testing done.
Anyone who is interested can fill out a form through the school's website.
Sygielski explained Tuesday the school does not know yet what led to the elevated lead levels.
He says since the building was constructed in 2012, HACC has done everything necessary to clean and monitor the range.
“When the building was built 10, 11 years ago we made sure it had all the proper approved ventilation systems and we regularly go in and monitor and clean," said Sygielski.
There’s no timeline for when the building will reopen, as the school awaits more test results to determine its next steps.
Download the FOX43 app here.