The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #52069

Stephen Lester, MS and Lois Marie Gibbs, MS. Center for Health Environment and Justice, Center for Health Environment and Justice, Falls Church, VA 22040, (703) 237-2249, slester@chej.org

The Child Proofing Our Communities Campaign mapped the location of public schools relative to known federal or state contaminated waste sites in five states – California, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York. Data on public schools was collected from the US Department of Education and the New York State Education Department. Hazardous waste sites were identified using the Federal Superfund list and from the state inventories in Massachusetts, Michigan, and New York.. All schools within one half-mile of a federal Superfund or state-identified hazardous waste site were mapped. In these five states, over 1,100 public schools housing over six hundred thousand students were found within a half-mile radius of a known contaminated site. No federal guidelines exist to guide the siting of schools in relation to contaminated sites.

Learning Objectives:

(
• To show that many public schools are located on or near federal or state contaminated waste sites; (
• To show that protections are needed around the siting of public schools. School board members do not have the scientific background to decide whether a brownfield site or a location by a known contaminated site poses a risk to children; (
• To show that guidance is needed from public health scientists on what level of chemicals found in soil should trigger environmental testing and clean up before a school construction is considered.

Keywords: School Health, Environmental Exposures

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.