Boston Drops Toxic School Site

December 3, 2000

By JAY LINDSAY

Associated Press Writer

BOSTON (AP)--The mayor of Quincy on Tuesday dropped a proposal to build a

high school on a former industrial waste site because of public opposition.

Mayor Sheets said public doubts had crippled the $60 million project

in the small city south of Boston.

The plan was fiercely protested by parents who said their kids wouldn't be

safe at the new school. Officials argued the former Bethlehem Steel site

could be cleaned, but Sheets eventually decided it wasn't worth the fight.

``Once the fear is generated, whether it's real or perceived, it's real,''

Sheets said. ``I'm not going to have moms and dads out there saying,`I don't

want to send my son or daughter to that high school because it's not safe.'

''

On Tuesday, a Boston-based environmental advocacy group included the site on

its ``Dirty Dozen'' list as one of the state's worst environmental health

threats.

A task force settled on the property two years ago because it offered room

for expansion and athletic fields, and didn't require taking the city's rare

open space or park land.

The Department of Education signed off on the project, pending review of the

Department of Environmental Protection. The school committee also approved

the site, and the City Council was set to vote on a construction bond next

week.

The debate over the Quincy site carried echoes of a recent case in Los

Angeles, where the board of education abandoned a $200 million school

project in January--just before the school was completed--because toxins

were found on the property.

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