Contaminated Soil in Seminole County Schools? (Orlando, Sanford: home, purchase, school district)

[pianogal]

There have been several families inquire of Sanford schools recently...thought the following may be of interest to them. These schools have NOT been built yet.

From Today's Orlando Sentinel:

The more you know about the site east of Sanford where as many as two schools might get built, the more you wouldn't want to send your kids there.

Environmental testing shows some of the soil and groundwater there contains unsafe arsenic levels. But not to worry, the district says. It's actually, really, safe, hence the School Board approving on Tuesday the purchase of 30 acres for $1.2 million.

The school district says it plans to build the first facility, an elementary school, not on the contaminated eastern half of the land but on its western half. But only portions of the supposedly safe western section have been tested.

And yet the district also has designs on the eastern half, which could become home to a middle school. Then there's the matter of the state, in its bewildering approval of the schools, saying the land gives "reasonable assurance" that kids there won't face a health risk. That's not good enough.

[Prichard]

It's very ironic that the Sentinal is reporting on "contaminated soil". Their headquarters in downtown Orlando is responsible for one of the worst soil contaminations that this city has experienced in many decades. It was so bad that it stifled growth all around that area for many years, and I think it still may have some contamination. The contaminant was a toxic fluid used in printing newspapers.

Every time the Sentinal reports on contamination or toxic chemicals, they should be required to put a footnote on those articles that reads: "Yes, the Orlando Sentinal is responsible for poisening Orlando too."

[Rhett_Butler]

Originally Posted by pianogal

There have been several families inquire of Sanford schools recently...thought the following may be of interest to them. These schools have NOT been built yet.

From Today's Orlando Sentinel:

The more you know about the site east of Sanford where as many as two schools might get built, the more you wouldn't want to send your kids there.

Environmental testing shows some of the soil and groundwater there contains unsafe arsenic levels. But not to worry, the district says. It's actually, really, safe, hence the School Board approving on Tuesday the purchase of 30 acres for $1.2 million.

The school district says it plans to build the first facility, an elementary school, not on the contaminated eastern half of the land but on its western half. But only portions of the supposedly safe western section have been tested.

And yet the district also has designs on the eastern half, which could become home to a middle school. Then there's the matter of the state, in its bewildering approval of the schools, saying the land gives "reasonable assurance" that kids there won't face a health risk. That's not good enough.

I remember there was a major issue about the new Layer Elementary School, but that wasn't built in Sanford..... Might have just been an issue with scrap-metal and such because they built it on an old junkyard basically...