|
|
Talking Points
This legislation...
-
Will require school
boards to "call before they dig" or test to ensure that sites are safe
for children before they begin building schools.
-
Gives parents the right
to know whether or not the schools they send
their children to
are safe.
Thousands
of schools throughout the country have already been built on or near toxic
sites
-
A recent study by the
group "Child Proofing Our Communities" of five states found that there
are over 1,100 public schools within a half-mile radius of a known contaminated
site. Within these states, over 600,000 children attend classes in schools
near contaminated land.
-
If there are 600,000
in five states, it is reasonable to assume that nationwide this is problem
effecting millions of children.
We
need to prevent "Love Canal" situations from happening again
Building schools on or near toxic
sites is a nightmare situation because kids are more vulnerable to toxins
-
Children drink more, eat more, and breathe
more per pound of body weight, making what may be a safe chemical exposure
to an adult, extremely toxic to a child.
-
Childhood is a "critical period" in human
development when exposure to a dangerous chemical can cause permanent damage
or even death.
Parents Have a Right to Know
-
We require most schools to get written parental
consent to give our kids an aspirin, but we may be allowing them to expose
our kids to dangerous toxins without even notifying us.
-
Toxins in or near schools, of all places,
are something a parent has a right to know about to ensure a child's safety.
|
