Table of ContentsEnvironmental Justice Case Study: Beard Elementary School Siting on Contaminated PropertyAbove: EPA, 2000. EnviroMapper of Beard Elementary School Neighborhood.ProblemBack to Table of ContentsBackgroundClean up of the Construction SiteBack to Table of ContentsActorsBack to Table of ContentsDemographicsBack to Table of ContentsStrategies UsedBack to Table of ContentsSolutionsBack to Table of ContentsRecommendationsKathy Milberg from Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision recommended that the Detroit Public Schools conduct further clean up of the construction site. She did not have specific recommendations, but called for further research into the acceptable levels of clean up for the protection of children’s health (Milberg, 2000b).Back to Table of ContentsContactsKathy Milberg: Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision ProjectBack to Table of ContentsWorks CitedBack to Table of ContentsEnvironmental Justice Case Study: Beard Elementary School Siting on Contaminated PropertyAbove: EPA, 2000. EnviroMapper of Beard Elementary School Neighborhood.ProblemThe view out of the car window as one heads toward Beard Elementary school in Detroit can hardly be called scenic. From Chrysler Freeway, one can see heavy industrial - Table of Contents- Problem- Background- Actors- Demographics - Strategies Used- Solutions- Recommendations- Contacts- Works Cited- Back to EJ Case Studiesplants stretch into southwest Detroit. Within all of this ugliness sits a little elementary school. Like something out of a storybook, Beard Elementary school, built in 1886, is a picturesque little red schoolhouse. When inside, the first impression is quite romantic, butafter a quick tour, the building’s limitations become clear. The school has no cafeteria, a minuscule gym, and is extremely overcrowded with 563 students. However, construction for a new and better school was started in July of 2000 at 7036 Chatfield Street (Thornton, 2000). The new school is necessary because of the poor conditions in the current school. Unfortunately, the Detroit Public Schools have decided to build the new school on property contaminated with lead, arsenic, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzo(a)pyrene, and trichloroethylene (Thornton, 2000). The siting of Beard Elementary school on contaminated soil is an especially difficult environmental justice case. Those who will bear the brunt of the harm from the toxic chemicals in the soil are low-income children of color. There are regulations in Michigan for the redevelopment of brownfields for commercial purposes, but not for the construction of schools. There are also regulations for the amount of chemicals in the soilthat are dangerous to human health. However, these regulations were set up for the protection of adults rather than children. Therefore, the Due Care clean up procedures required by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality are not adequate to protect the health of the Beard Elementary School students.Back to Table of ContentsBackgroundThe construction site of the new Beard Elementary/Preschool has a long history ofheavy industrial uses. Located on the intersection of Chatfield, Beard, and Green Streets, the 6.4 acre triangle of vacant land is in the heart of Southwest Detroit. The site is surrounded by an elevated railroad to the North and a partially vacant industrial facility tothe East and is only 1/4 of a mile northwest of Chrysler Freeway, I-75. Primary occupation of the site began in 1916 with the construction of a brick factory. Seven years later, in 1923, the site was occupied by a brass foundry, Ireland & Mathews Mfg., Aetna Steel Company, the Ohio Automobile Radiator Company, and the Wolverine Aluminum Company. Each company occupied different buildings on the site in 1929. During the period between 1937 to 1950, the International Detrola Corporation operated on the property. From 1950 to1964, the U.S. Army owned and operated training at the site, before donating the land to the City Board of Education, who then ran a vocational skills center and repair garage on the property from 1965 to 1981. In 1981, all of the buildings on the site were demolished. For seventeen years, the site remained vacant (Thornton, 2000). The Beard Elementary school neighborhood is overburdened by polluting facilities. In the two-mile radius around the school, there are a total of 58 polluting facilities (See map above). Of those 58 facilities, the majority handle hazardous waste. In the two-mile radius, there are 40 facilities handling hazardous waste, 3 facilities with toxic releases, 6 with air releases, and 9 facilities that deal with multiple types of pollutants (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000). With the disproportionate amount of pollution in the neighborhood already, further exposure to the children as aresult of the siting of the new elementary school on contaminated soil compounds alreadydangerous health risks.Beard Elementary School Site Environmental TestingIn August of 1998, the Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision (SDEV) requested that the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) supply notification on present ownership of the land. In October and November of 1998, the DPS sent extension letters to SDEV reporting that the records about the property had either been lost or destroyed (Milberg, 2000a). As a result of the previous industrial use, an environmental group, Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, requested that the abandoned site be considered for funding through the Wayne County Brownfield Authority (Thornton, 2000). In January of 1999, students from the University of Michigan conducted research on the site’s history. An environmental consultant hired by SDEV completed a review of the site history in March of 1999 and concluded that the site was contaminated with toxic compounds (Milberg, 2000b). SDEV representatives Kathy Milberg and Juan Jose Martinez met with the DPS soon after the contamination was discovered and provided them with the site report. The DPS then gave permission to conduct Phase I and Phase II Environmental Assessments ofthe area for commercial reuse (Milberg, 2000a). In July and August of 1999 the Phase I and II assessments were finished for Wayne County (Thornton, 2000). After the initial Phase I and II assessments were completed for commercial reuse, the DPS decided to build the new Beard Elementary/Preschool on the site. Construction of the new school commenced in July of 2000 (Thornton, 2000). The