State Probes Hazardous Waste Near Framingham, MA School

May 11, 2010 - There are serious and troubling questions concerning a hazardous waste facility in a busy suburban neighborhood. WBZ's I-Team has learned there is now a formal state investigation. The facility sits just a few yards from a school full of children, and the town says that the school faces significant risk.

You can hear the laughter of children on a playground at the Woodrow Wilson elementary school in Framingham. Every school day they play a few yards from a very controversial hazardous waste facility owned by General Chemical Corporation.

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Potentially unsafe levels of arsenic contamination at New Bedford High School athletic fields in Massachusetts

August 2, 2008 - Three soil samples taken at Paul Walsh Field revealed arsenic levels above 40 parts per million that could trigger what the state calls a "potential imminent hazard." The findings of arsenic in two soil samples taken from the main baseball field and one from the softball field were reported by an independent laboratory to TRC and the city Wednesday.

Samples for contaminants have been taken in the entire complex as part of city's efforts to understand the extent of the pollution caused by a former burn dump in the neighborhood.

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PCB levels unacceptable in Massachusetts schoolyard

December 16, 2007 - A new round of testing has discovered PCBs in a schoolyard that has been at the center of controversy surrounding the ongoing environmental cleanup.

The U.S. Environmental Protection said soil samples taken from a corner of a field at Allendale Elementary School revealed unacceptable PCB levels 1 foot under the surface. Although the agency said the pollution poses no health risk to pupils, faculty or nearby residents, a contractor is expected to begin a cleanup tomorrow.

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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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New Jersey neighborhood concerned about property value impact after discovery of contaminated soil

July 30, 2007 - Tainted soil found at West Brook Middle School months ago has some Paramus homeowners concerned that their property values will drop.

So far, there's no hard evidence that prices in the neighborhood around West Brook have dipped in response to the pesticide contamination. But those who predict a downswing feel sure that the school district's tarnished reputation for covering up the contamination can mean only one thing for property owners.

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Washington State Replacing Contaminated Soil at Schools

July 25, 2007 - Don’t let children dig in the dirt.

That’s been the public health mantra for years in areas where windblown arsenic and lead from the former Asarco copper smelter has contaminated soil.

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New Jersey school district officials learned of the contamination in January, but did not send a letter home to parents until late May

May 26, 2007 - PARAMUS -- A state environmental inspector visited West Brook Middle School on Thursday after learning contaminated soil had been improperly stored there.

On Wednesday, the soil, which contains pesticides at levels up to 39 times the state safety standards, was not covered properly. School district officials learned of the contamination in January, but did not send a letter home to parents until Thursday.

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Indiana Middle School Threatened by Contamination

April 29, 2007 - A metal coatings company has known for two years that dangerous chemicals have polluted soil and groundwater 200 feet from Memorial Park Middle School grounds but has not started a cleanup.

Wayne Metal Protection discovered a plume of tetrachloroethylene in the soil and groundwater beneath its facility at 1511 Wabash Ave., in September 2004 and reported the pollution to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management.

Later investigations by the company found other pollutants either on or around the site, including trichloroethylene, cyanide, arsenic, lead and chromium, according to IDEM documents.

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