City building schools on toxic sites

Acting Bronx state Supreme Court Justice Patricia Anne Williams ruled last month that the School Construction Authority violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act by approving the contaminated Mott Haven Schools Complex at Concourse Village West between 153rd St. and 157th St. without first detailing a long-term plan to protect students and faculty from remaining toxins.

Just a toxic mixup - city Schools site 'violated' state law

The 6.6-acre tract was home to a railyard and machine shops for 73 years, and contains harmful chemicals including mercury, lead, benzene and tetrachloroethylene.

The $230 million campus, still under construction, will be shared by two high schools, a combination high school/intermediate school, and a charter school for grades five through eight.

Regardless of the ruling's future impact, it came too late to affect three schools the SCA announced last May that it plans to build on contaminated sites in Queens, ranging from an old auto storage lot to a former dry cleaner.