EPA misses deadline to release safe school siting guidelines

June marks the 18-month congressional deadline for EPA to develop and release national school siting guidelines. The office in charge of these guidelines, The Office of Children and Environmental Education, announced in March that the release of the guidelines will be delayed. As EPA continues to work on producing school siting guidelines that can be adopted by school boards and states, CHEJ is launching a month long Educate For Safe School Siting campaign. Join the campaign! Click here

EPA Releases First Results of School Air Quality Monitoring Initiative

EPA monitored Ashland City Elementary School in Ashland City, TN and Lakeview Elementary School in New Johnsonville, TN for manganese and other metals. Manganese is a metal commonly used in manufacturing that affects the central nervous and reproductive systems. The results are currently being analyzed to determine the potential long-term health risks of manganese exposure. Click here

Write A Letter to First Lady Michelle Obama

Moms all across the country are writing letters to Michelle Obama telling their story about why they are so concerned about the lack of laws banning the siting of schools on or near sources of pollution. Click here

“Sources of Pollution and School Siting” Briefing

Find out more about the “Sources of Pollution and School Siting” briefing held on April 28 and hosted by CHEJ, American Federation of Teachers, Global Community Monitor, and Natural Resources Defense Council. Click here

Lois Gibbs, Executive Director of CHEJ, speaks at Fort Lauderdale

community meeting as they stop the siting of a charter school just steps from a known superfund site. CHEJ has been working the community of Wingate and Lincoln Park for months as they fight an irresponsible zoning board and plan for a healthier future for their community. See some of the media coverage from this highly attended community meeting. Click here

Disney Doesn’t Cross the Finish Line with their new Healthy Cleaning Policy

As activists demonstrated outside Disney’s annual shareholder meeting on March 10, Disney released a Healthy Cleaning Policy. The policy is a good first step but it doesn’t cross the finish line towards providing a safer and healthier Disney World. Learn more about what’s missing from this new policy.

Sign on to the Principles for Safe School Siting

The issue of the safe siting of schools is an important issue facing all our communities. CHEJ’s National Working Group on School Siting has developed Principles for Safe School Siting that individuals and organizations can sign on to in order to support this important issue. Find out how to start a campaign for your community to adopt a safe school siting policy