Schools: Toxic Hot Spots

December 8, 2008

This morning USATODAY released their study of schools where the outside air poses an unacceptable health risk from chemical contamination to young children and school staff. The study identified 435 schools in "toxic hot spots". This is a must read article.

Nationwide there are very few laws and no federal law that prevents school districts from siting a school on or near contaminated land and air pollution. One year ago President Bush signed into law the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, within that document was a mandate for the EPA to develop comprehensive voluntary guidelines on school siting. These guidelines are expected to be release in June of 2009. But we must all continue to keep the pressure on in order to ensure strong comprehensive guidelines.

Take action today on this important issue:
(1) Read the article
(2) Join our campaign to make sure no more schools are built on or near contaminated areas
(3) Send a letter to your congressperson to support the EPA in writing strong school siting guidelines

Thank you for your work on this very important issue,
Renee Blanchard

If Your Child Says School Makes Him Sick - He Might Be Right.
Study Identifies 435 Schools with Toxic Air Pollution While EPA Shirks Responsibility

CONTACT:
Moira Bulloch
mbulloch@chej.org
703-237-2249 ext. 19

December 08, 2008

For Immediate Release:

This morning USATODAY released their study of schools where the outside air poses an unacceptable health risk from chemical contamination to young children and school staff. The study identified 435 schools in "toxic hot spots".

The study reaffirms what the Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ) has been reporting since 2001. In several reports, beginning with Poisoned Schools, CHEJ presented case studies of school aged children harmed by chemicals in their school environments and called on the federal government to establish school siting guidelines as a tool for local schools boards. Local school board members are not scientists, toxicologists or air modeling experts and need assistance to determine a safe location for schools. 50 state survey of laws and regulations on siting schools. http://www.childproofing.org/school_siting_50_state.htm CHEJ recommends adopting the following model laws for states and as guidelines for the EPA http://www.childproofing.org/school_siting_model_legislation.htm

In December, 2007 President Bush signed Subtitle E of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, instructing the EPA to develop the nation's first-ever school siting guidelines to give state legislatures direction in where schools may be physically located in relationship to toxic contamination sites. The EPA has been given a deadline of June, 2009. Nothing has been done since congress passed this directive. No one has even been given the responsibility for this task.

"It is in excusable to place school children in harms way", said Lois Gibbs, Executive Director of CHEJ. "Children are required by law to go to school. Schools must be safe place for children to learn and play not a place that endangers their health and ability to learn. Asthma is a direct result of air pollution and asthma is the number one reason for school absences."

"Yes, we're going to be putting more money into school construction," President-Elect Obama promised in a "Meet the Press" interview taped Saturday in Chicago. The President-Elect's commitment to new schools must be matched with a commitment to building schools in safe locations that will not expose our children to hazardous levels of air pollution. A first priority of the Obama Administration should be to move the school siting guidelines to the top of the EPA's agenda.

Child Proofing Our Communities (CPOC), a CHEJ program to prevent environmental health harm to children, developed the only existing National Model School Siting Policy guidelines to help state groups advance protective school siting policies for their states: http://www.childproofing.org/documents/school_siting_model_legislation.pdf

This message is brought to you by the Center for Health, Environment and Justice.
For more information visit the CHEJ homepage at www.chej.org.