Parents learn about ground and water contamination under new school in New Jersey two weeks before classes begin

August 23, 2007 - Parents of children enrolled at a newly constructed middle school are anxious after learning of soil and groundwater contamination on the site weeks before classes begin.

"All these parents found out two weeks before school that the ground was contaminated," said Lisa Barno, whose 11-year-old son is set to attend the school. "It seems we should have known beforehand."

Schools Superintendent Nicholas L. Perrapato said that he learned about the contamination earlier this month, although state officials overseeing the construction discovered the contamination in 2004 and took steps to remediate it.

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