DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Courtesy of the New York Daily News
A bill that would require public scrutiny of leased school sites that may be tainted with toxic chemicals is getting a second chance at becoming law.
Advocates applauded state Sen. John Sabini (D-Jackson Heights) this week for introducing a bill that requires community notification of environmental reviews. The bill resurrects a similar proposal that advocates said has languished on the desk of state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) since March 2007.
“Our schools should be safe places. They are where our children grow up,” Sabini spokesman Steven Stites said. “We can’t let leased properties be ignored.”
Forty groups support Sabini’s bill, including the United Federation of Teachers, the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council and the Sierra Club.
Advocates gathered outside the city School Construction Authority headquarters in Long Island City on Monday and underscored why it’s important to examine leased school sites and notify parents about the results. Currently, that is required only for sites owned by the city.
Ozone Park’s Public School 65, built in a former plastics factory, was shut down in 1996 after high toxin levels were detected. It reopened a few weeks later, but families said they are still concerned.
“I’d get symptoms of feeling nauseated, headaches and stomachaches,” said Kaylyn Acton-Chadee, 15, a former student at PS 65 who left in 2002.
In Harlem, 500 children were evacuated from PS 141 in 1997 after tests revealed the school, built on the site of a former dry-cleaning business, had unacceptably high levels of the carcinogen perchloroethylene, or perc.
And in October, parents ripped into city officials for opening Long Island City’s High School for Information Technology in an old factory in 2003. Tests found levels of perc were 50% higher than federal standards allow.
All three schools were renovated using a loophole in the review process that allows the SCA to collaborate with the city Education Department in siting schools on leased land.
Schools on city-owned land have different mandates: community boards and then the City Council review all proposals.
Last March, Padavan introduced a bill to close that loophole, but submitted what critics called a watered-down version. A Padavan spokesman said the bill pushes for community and environmental review, and that it gives the Education Department the authority to initiate both.
Education Department spokeswoman Debra Wexler said: “We conduct environmental due diligence for leased projects.” But Wexler did not address the issue of community notification.
