Re: Healthy Schools Network Fights Contaminated School Sites

[Guest guest]

In the business (teaching), we call them " dumps on dumps " - many

schools are built on former dump/incinerator sites.

It boggles my mind to think that society thinks so little about

children that they would build a school which is supposed to be a

'safe' haven for children on a former dump site. I can think of at

least 3 in Boston; an elementary, middle and high school.

Who knows what comes up under ground into the school area? It cannot

be good. A former incinerator site is NO place to put children and

staff.

I also know of schools which are built over " brooks " - and when kids

get sick from mold, parents are given the " bum's rush " and the kid

will be quickly transfered out. Anything to hide the problem.

This is all part of the culture of denial which permeates our

country's school systems.

Extra safeguards must be put in place, for schools, if for no other

reason that we now use " Universal Precautions " when handling blood or

bodily fluids, as a result of the AIDS dynamic.

Teachers do not know when a child is HIV positive, has AIDS, or is

otherwise immunocompromised, and an aspergillus infection could be

fatal. Those children need an especially safe place to learn.

The school should be as safe as a sterile operating room. I mean the

air quality and not a " sterile " learning environment. It is time this

nation " stepped up. "

>

> From Healthy Schools Network. This is so sad. All the inexpensive

land

> donated to schools..because the grounds were contaminated. Good to

see they are

> trying to stop this practice.

> Sharon K

>

>

> ***NEWS RELEASE***

>

> For Immediate Release:

> For More Information Contact:

> Dave Palmer, Staff

> April 28, 2008 (Nat'l Healthy Schools Day)

> Attorney, NYLPI (212) 244-4664/ C: (917) 482-7251

> Stites, Comm. Dir.,NYS Senator Sabini

> (718) 639-8469 /C: (617) 869-8228

>

> NAT'L HEALTHY SCHOOLS DAY: PARENTS & ADVOCATES DEMAND ACTION --

CALL FOR

> ROBUST REVIEW PROCESS OF PLANS TO LEASE CONTAMINATED FACILITIES FOR

SCHOOLS

>

> STATE SENATOR SABINI ANNOUNCES INTRODUCTION OF STRONG LEGISLATION

AS CALLS

> FOR SENATOR PADAVAN TO KEEP PROMISE/INTRODUCE STRONG BILL GO UNHEEDED

>

> Today, on National Healthy Schools Day, parents and advocates gathered

> outside the offices of the New York City School Construction Authority

> ( " SCA " ) to call on the New York State Senate to pass strong

legislation to

> require more oversight of SCA plans to lease contaminated

properties for use

> as public schools.

>

> " I attended a school in a leased contaminated former airplane parts

> factory, " said Kaylyn Acton-Chadee, a 15 year old high school

student who,

> from 1999 to 2002, attended P.S. 65 in Ozone Park Queens. " I

believe the

> toxins there affected my breathing and my ability to learn. There

is no

> history of asthma in my family, but I developed difficulty

breathing while I

> went school there, " added Kaylyn. " My family believes that the

Department

> of Education knew about the contamination issues at PS 65 well before

> families were informed. We now have a lawsuit against the City.

I'm here

> to make sure that other kids don't need to go through what I have

had to go

> through. "

>

> " Schools, parents, personnel, advocates, and agencies are uniting

nationwide

> today to promote healthy and green school environments for all

children, "

> said n Feinberg, Environmental Health Coordinator for For a

Better

> Bronx and a member of the New York City Taskforce of the Healthy

Schools

> Network. " On this day, we are calling on the State Senate to put

into law a

> robust process to review plans by the SCA to place children in rented,

> contaminated factories - this is especially important because many

of these

> factories are in low-income communities of color already facing

> disproportionate environmental burdens. " Yolanda , Executive

> Director of Nos Quedamos/We Stay added, " This national day presents

the

> perfect opportunity for the Senate to move forward and finally

close the

> leasing loophole. "

>

> In commemoration of Nat'l Healthy Schools Day, State Senator

D. Sabini

> announced the introduction of strong legislation - a " same as " bill

(S.7127)

> to legislation that has already unanimously passed the State Assembly

> (A.8838, Nolan**). " I'm proud to fight for the health of our

students on

> National Healthy Schools Day, " State Senator D. Sabini said.

" This

> issue is extremely important. The Republican-sponsored legislation

is using

> a broom to clean a mess that needs a bulldozer. We need to

establish real

> standards for leased school sites to make sure our children are

never at

> risk. "

>

> Advocates present were also critical of the legislation passed by

the Senate

> majority - legislation introduced by Senator Padavan.

" Padavan's bill

> is a watered-down version of what he originally promised to

introduce;

> thankfully, Senator Sabini is now introducing a bill that would

adequately

> address the lack of oversight of the SCA's leasing program, " said

> Cohen, the Regional Director of Metro NAACP and President of the

Northeast

> Queens NAACP.

>

> " My sense is that Senator Padavan is under a lot of pressure from the

> Bloomberg Administration to do nothing, but there is still time for

him to

> show real leadership on this issue by pushing the Senate majority

to act, "

> said Dave Palmer, Staff Attorney with New York Lawyers for Public

Interest,

> who represents community organizations working to strengthen

cleanups at

> contaminated school sites.

>

>

> Bill Summaries:

>

> SENATE BILL 7127 (Sabini) & ASSEMBLY BILL 8838** (Nolan)

> Note: same as current law that applies to new school construction

> 1) Notice to communities through submission of all leased

school site

> applications to the community board (and now-defunct local school

boards).

> 2) Submission of all leased school site applications to New

York City

> Council.

> 3) Leased school site applications subject to State Env. Quality

Review

> Act (SEQRA).

>

> SENATE BILL 6393 (Padavan)

> 1) No requirement for notice to communities through submission of

a site

> application to the community board, school board or local Community

> Education Councils.

>

> Why problematic: Parents and communities have a right to be

informed of

> plans to place schools on contaminated sites.

>

> 2) No requirement for submission of site applications to the City

Council.

>

> Why problematic: The Council's ability to review local school siting

> decisions has led to stronger cleanups at new school sites on

contaminated

> properties, and has not significantly slowed down the siting process.

> Council review is an important check and balance on executive

decisions, and

> the only leverage for affected communities to demand stronger

protections on

> school sites.

>

> 3) Instead of the standard environmental review process, SEQRA,

all leased

> educational facilities would go through a Phase 1 (property

history) and

> Phase 2 (soil, groundwater, air quality testing) environmental

review. This

> is what the City says it currently already does. Next, for those

sites

> where a Phase 2 reveals contamination and the City decides to move

forward

> with a lease and the creation of a remedial cleanup plan, the

remedial plan

> would be subjected to a 60-day public comment period run by the local

> Community Education Council (CEC) - not the School Construction

Authority

> (SCA).

>

> Why problematic: An Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) pursuant

to SEQRA

> is NYS's standard environmental review process. The process should

not be

> triggered based on how a building is acquired. Kids in leased

contaminated

> facilities are just as at-risk as kids in newly constructed schools on

> contaminated properties. In terms of children's health, the

distinction

> used to justify the different treatment of school sites is

meaningless. If

> SEQRA is to be ignored, the SCA must at least be responsible for their

> proposed cleanup plans. This bill places responsibility for review of

> environmental cleanups on local volunteer-run parent councils with few

> resources to conduct reviews, no power to change SCA plans, and no

legal

> responsibility to conduct the kind of thorough review the SCA would

have to

> under SEQRA.

>

> **The following organizations support of A.8838: Asian American Legal

> Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF) . Bronx Committee for Toxic Free

> Schools . Bronx Health REACH . Center for Health, Environment &

Justice

> (CHEJ) . Chancellor's Parent Advisory Council . Chinese Progressive

> Association . Class Size Matters . Coalition for Asian American

Children and

> Families . Community District Education Council 26 . Concerned

Residents

> Organization . Environmental Advocates of New York . Environmental

Defense .

> For a Better Bronx . Healthy Schools Network . Hillcrest Citizens for

> Neighborhood Preservation . Hillcrest Estates Civic Association .

Institute

> for Health and the Environment at SUNY Albany . Institute for Urban

Family

> Health . Lower Washington Heights Neighborhood Association, Inc. .

Make the

> Road by Walking . Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) . New

York City

> Environmental Justice Alliance (NYCEJA) . New York Immigration

Coalition .

> New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) . New York League of

> Conservation Voters (NYLCV) . New York Public Interest Research Group

> (NYPIRG) . Northeast Queens NAACP . Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy

> Coalition . Nos Quedamos/We Stay . Queens Community Board 7 . Queens

> Community Board 8 . Queens Federation of Churches . PS 65 Parents &

> Neighborhood Against TCE . Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education

Fund

> (PRLDEF) . Sierra Club . Sustainable South Bronx . United

Federation of

> Teachers (UFT) . United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park

(UPROSE) .

> WE ACT for Environmental Justice . Wellness in the Schools.

>

> - 30 -

>

> L. Barnett, Executive Director

> Healthy Schools Network, Inc.

> 518-462-0632

>

> Coordinator, Coalition for Healthier Schools

> 202-543-7555

>

> www.healthyschools.org

>

> US EPA 2007 National Special Achievement Award for Communicating IAQ

> CHPS 'Green Apple' Award for IAQ in School Design

>

> .. for children, health, environment, education, communities...

>

>

>

>

>

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