Schools Urged To Be Wary Of Polluted Sites

By Alan Richard

Laws should be strengthened to protect children from attending schools built on or near chemically polluted sites, and districts should follow stricter environmental guidelines when selecting the future location of school buildings, a report by a national advocacy campaign urges.

The report, "Poisoned Schools: Invisible Threats, Visible Actions," was scheduled for release March 19 by the Child Proofing Our Communities: Poisoned School Campaign, a group of 43 organizations dedicated to protecting children from exposure to environmental health hazards in schools, homes, and communities.

Lois Gibbs, who led protests some 20 years ago to clean up a toxic-waste site in Love Canal, N.Y., wrote the 79-page report with her colleagues at the nonprofit Center for Health, Environment, and Justice, based in Falls Church, Va. The report includes more than two dozen case studies of schools built on or near contaminated sites, or where children have been exposed to pesticide use in and around school buildings. Ms. Gibbs said many of the examples came from calls to her office during...