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Copyright Providence Journal/Evening Bulletin Feb 1, 2007
Parents must be kept informed about the monitoring of contamination at two city schools.
* * *
PROVIDENCE - A Superior Court judge has ordered the city to routinely notify parents and school
employees about any contamination found at two public schools built on top of a former dump.
Judge Edward C. Clifton last week ordered that letters be sent to the parents and school employees of
the Pell school complex on Springfield Street about "the nature and extent of contamination found at
the site, the design and purpose of measures undertaken to remediate the site and a description of
the quarterly monitoring measures'' used to determine the safety of the schools. The notice must be
sent in English and Spanish to new students and employees every year.
Carnevale Elementary School and Del Sesto Middle School were built on top of a former city landfill
despite residents' concerns about the long-term safety of students and employees at the schools,
according to Rhode Island Legal Services, which provides free advice to low-income clients and
represented the plaintiffs.
Clifton's order provides a number of ways for the public to know more about environmental conditions
at the schools and requires the city to comply with environmental laws when building new schools.
The city, for example, must send electronic copies of documents to the state Department of
Environmental Management, which will be posted on the DEM's Web site. The city must also distribute
notices at the schools when the DEM schedules community meetings about the environmental
conditions about the site.
"Judge Clifton's ruling is a small step toward assuring the safety of the schools for our children and
our neighbors' children," said Gilberta Taylor, president of the Hartford Park Residents Association.
The association, a neighbor of Taylor's and two parents brought the suit in 1999 to stop the schools
from opening. "We hope Judge Clifton's order forces the city to repair the sinkholes around the school
and to take extra care to protect chil dren from landfill gases and other contaminants at the school site."
In October 2005, Clifton ruled that the city and the DEM broke state environmental laws because of the
way in which the schools were sited and approved. Last April, the judge ordered the DEM to establish
a committee to develop better rules for public involvement in the cleanup of contaminated sites.
Parents must be kept informed about the monitoring of contamination at two city schools.
* * *
PROVIDENCE - A Superior Court judge has ordered the city to routinely notify parents and school
employees about any contamination found at two public schools built on top of a former dump.
Judge Edward C. Clifton last week ordered that letters be sent to the parents and school employees of
the Pell school complex on Springfield Street about "the nature and extent of contamination found at
the site, the design and purpose of measures undertaken to remediate the site and a description of
the quarterly monitoring measures'' used to determine the safety of the schools. The notice must be
sent in English and Spanish to new students and employees every year.
Carnevale Elementary School and Del Sesto Middle School were built on top of a former city landfill
despite residents' concerns about the long-term safety of students and employees at the schools,
according to Rhode Island Legal Services, which provides free advice to low-income clients and
represented the plaintiffs.
Clifton's order provides a number of ways for the public to know more about environmental conditions
at the schools and requires the city to comply with environmental laws when building new schools.
The city, for example, must send electronic copies of documents to the state Department of
Environmental Management, which will be posted on the DEM's Web site. The city must also distribute
notices at the schools when the DEM schedules community meetings about the environmental
conditions about the site.
"Judge Clifton's ruling is a small step toward assuring the safety of the schools for our children and
our neighbors' children," said Gilberta Taylor, president of the Hartford Park Residents Association.
The association, a neighbor of Taylor's and two parents brought the suit in 1999 to stop the schools
from opening. "We hope Judge Clifton's order forces the city to repair the sinkholes around the school
and to take extra care to protect chil dren from landfill gases and other contaminants at the school site."
In October 2005, Clifton ruled that the city and the DEM broke state environmental laws because of the
way in which the schools were sited and approved. Last April, the judge ordered the DEM to establish
a committee to develop better rules for public involvement in the cleanup of contaminated sites.
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