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The Maine Principals’ Association announced new guidelines last week limiting the number of fans and team members allowed to attend the high school state championship swim meets at the University of Maine and Bowdoin College held over the past weekend.
This move by the MPA was based on safety concerns about air and water quality at the institutions’ pools. The association said both the Stanley Wallace Pool at UMaine and the Leroy Greason Pool at Bowdoin have been scrutinized for years now over such problems.
Jeff Sturgis, assistant executive director for the MPA, issued an e-mail last week to high school swim coaches, prior to the meets taking place, that said problems with air and water quality in the UMaine and Bowdoin pool enclosures have resulted in the institutions adopting new policies governing public use of the facilities.
But, at the same time, the claim has rankled UMaine officials who say their facilities are safe. Bowdoin representatives did not respond to the claims late last week.
In 2009, a ventilation failure sickened dozens of swimmers, coaches and spectators at a major competition at UMaine’s Stanley Wallace Pool in the Field House, according to the Bangor Daily News.
As a result, the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention was prompted to undertake an investigation, which subsequently found participants were sickened due to overcrowding and one ventilation system having been accidentally shut off.
There have been no problems since that time at the Wallace Pool complex.
According to Wayne Maines, director of safety and environmental management at UMaine, the school fully complied with the CDC recommendations that resulted from the investigation. He also vehemently denied there were currently any problems with air and water quality at the complex and said the facility is capable of accommodating 350 people on the pool deck and 400 in the stands.
Steps have since been taken to make exhaust fans and air intake vents more functional, and Maines said both air and water quality are closely monitored during major events such as the high school state championships.
Sturgis told coaches and others slated to participate in the events to be aware of public health officials from the CDC, who he said would be in attendance at the meets to ensure regulations and attendance rates were followed.
However, those officials never showed up at the meets and Dr. Stephen Sears, the director of the Maine CDC, said his agency was not planning to attend in the first place. Sears agreed with statements made by UMaine officials and said both schools were cooperating in promoting safer meets and better equipment.
As a result, there will be no crackdowns on capacity or other regulations at the facilities according to the CDC.
“I think our message may have gotten a little exaggerated,” Sears said.
