BRONX COMMITTEE FOR TOXIC FREE SCHOOLS

 

 

***MEDIA ADVISORY***

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        Contact: Chris Johnson:

718-344-3178

November 28, 2006

 

SOUTH BRONX COMMUNITY GROUPS HOST MEETING TO HEAR COMMUNITY CONCERNS ABOUT

CITYıS PLANS TO BUILD SCHOOLS ON CONTAMINATED SITE

 

 

 

WHAT:  Community Meeting

WHEN:   Wednesday, November 29, 2006 - 6:00 PM

WHERE: Public School 156 - 750 Concourse Village West (156th Street)

 

Speakers:  - Maria del Carmen Arroyo, Council Woman District 17-D. Lee

Ezell, Chairwoman of Bronx Community Board 4 - John Fielder, Head of The

Presidents Council for District 7-Yolanda Gonzalez, Executive Director of

Nos Quedamos - Chris Johnson, New York Lawyers for  the Public Interest-

Jane Maisel, Member of Bronx Committee for Toxic Free Schools- Kevin Olson,

Environmental Justice Attorney at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest-

Chaira Salem, Concerned Parent & Member of Bronx Committee for Toxic Free

Schools

 

INFO:

 

Next week the City will ask the City Council to approve its plans to build

four schools on a contaminated property in the South Bronx.  The proposed

property, referred to as the ³Mott Haven Site,² contains many dangerous

toxins buried underground including mercury, lead, and the suspected

carcinogen benzene.

 

While the City has a plan to clean the site, independent environmental

engineers have raised significant concerns about aspects of the plan, and

have suggested that more could and should be done.  To date the City has

displayed an unwillingness to address these issues to the satisfaction of

community members ­ members from a community already overburdened by health

issues related to asthma and cancer.

 

Furthermore studies show that exposure to certain chemicals, including those

found at the Mott Haven site, are linked to learning disabilities and other

adverse health effects.  The irony of placing a school on a contaminated

property that could hinder childrenıs ability to learn has not been lost on

the South Bronx community.  For this reason the community is coming together

to voice its concerns and to call for an adequate clean-up plan that will

ensure the long term safety of the students on the proposed campus, and the

overall community.

 

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