Our cities are short on land and long on students in need of new schools. So it's only natural that when city officials cast about for properties on which to site new schools, they often settle on brownfields-former factories and parcels of industrial land. But building on these sites carries worrisome potential health consequences for the students attending school there-whether through leaking chemicals, soil laced with toxins or dirty air emissions. There is little standing in the way of these projects: As the cover story in this issue explains, only a few states have environmental standards for school sites.
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