Education

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/852/t/2096/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1883&t=&limit=25

Principles For Safe School Siting

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is set to release voluntary school siting guidelines that will assist states and local school districts in the adopting of policies for safer school siting.Thirty years after the crisis at Love Canal that closed two elementary schools due to contamination, there are very few state laws and no federal law preventing the siting of a school or day care center on or near sources of pollution. These guidelines will be adopted by diverse school districts all across the country in sweeping effort to protect children and school staff from the harmful exposures of pollution. As school districts are facing budget cuts and our nation's schools are reaching an average of 49 years old, it is more important than ever for all of us to support the safe siting of schools.

Please take one minute to sign on to these Principles For Safe School Siting.

You may sign on as an organization or as an individual. You may also print out these principles and share with your neighbors and local school district staff to show the nationwide support of adopting safe siting policies in your own community.

Principles For Safe School Siting

We call on local, state, and national leaders to adopt safe siting policies in order to prevent children and school staff from the harmful health impacts of exposure to sources of pollution.

The problem of unsafe school siting was first discovered in 1979 when the Niagara Falls's 99th Street School was found next to the Love Canal toxic dumpsite containing 20,000 tons of toxic waste. The Love Canal crisis served as a warning that government should ensure that our children are attending safe schools and childcare centers. With the average age of our nation’s schools reaching 49 years, there is a critical need for both state and national policies on the issue of school siting. The safe siting of schools benefit our children’s development while helping to strengthen our local communities.

We, the undersigned, believe action on safer siting of schools is needed because:

Preventing toxic exposures where schools are located protects entire communities
• Safe siting policies will prevent toxic exposures to children and school staff through reducing their daily exposures to chemicals that can cause cancer, immune system impairments, birth defects, learning disabilities, asthma, and other health problems.

Children’s developing systems make them more vulnerable to chemical exposure
• During prenatal development, infancy, and adolescence, children are growing and adding new tissue more rapidly than at any other period of life, which makes children are susceptible to environmental chemical influences.

Children’s bodies are more sensitive than adults
• Children are less able to handle toxic chemical exposures. Children breathe more air and eat more per pound than adults. For example, children absorb about 50% of the lead to which they are exposed, while adults absorb only 10-15%.

Natural activities of children leave them more susceptible to chemical exposure
• Normal school activities heighten children’s exposure to the impacts of pollution. After school sports, recess, classes in which children explore the school’s site ecosystem, children’s natural curiosity, tendency to explore, and inclination to put their hands in their mouths all opens them to high levels of exposure.

Exercising precaution in the siting of schools will prevent future Love Canals
• Exercising precaution in the siting of educational facilities will prevent future financial losses in terms of decreased student IQ’s, increases in injuries and illnesses among children and employees, and increased potential for lawsuits costing facilities much needed education dollars.

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/852/t/2096/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1883&t=&limit=2
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UPDATE :

On Monday, I asked you to sign on to CHEJ's Principles for Safe School Siting and in just two days over 200 of you responded. Thank you!

 Today, I am writing you to tell you about an event happening called "Sources of Pollution and School Siting" on April 28 in Washignton DC. The Center for Health, Environment, & Justice, American Federation of Teachers, Global Community Monitor, and Natural Resources Defense Council is sponsoring a briefing on Capitol Hill about the environmental health impacts of siting schools on or near sources of pollution. We have a full speakers list including the reporter from USAToday who wrote a series of articles about air pollution and schools this past December.

 If you are going to be in the Washignton DC area, on Tuesday April 28, please consider joining us. Here are the details:

 Where: Cannon Building room 304, Washington DC

 When: Tuesday April 28, 10am- 12pm

 RSVP: Send an email to Renee at rblanchard@chej.org

 Why: Thirty years after the Love Canal crisis closed two elementary schools due to contamination, few state and no federal laws exist to prevent schools from being built on or near sources of pollution. This past December, USAToday released a series of articles ranking over 1,000 schools on air contamination and just this past week EPA announced air testing outside 62 schools in over 22 states. EPA is also set to release national school siting guidelines this year that can be adopted by state governments and local school boards. As this issue becomes increasingly important to so many communities, please join us as we discuss the particular concerns related to school siting, children's health, and what we can do as advocates, parents, school faculty and staff, and concerned community members to prevent the siting of schools on or near sources of pollution.

 Speakers Include:
Daryl Alexander, American Federation of Teachers
Bob Axelrad, Environmental Protection Agency (invited, not confirmed)
Renee Blanchard, Center for Health, Environment, & Justice
Ruth Breech, Global Community Monitor
Blake Morrison, USAToday
Dr. Jerome Paulson, Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and Environment

 If you have two minutes right now, please pass this along to your family, friends, and colleagues you think might be interested in this event.

 

Sincerely,

Renee Blanchard

Campaign Coordinator

Childproofing Our Communities

P.S. If you haven't already, please sign on to our Principles for Safe School Siting.