Burnaby teachers raising pipeline concerns

The Burnaby Teachers' Association is raising concerns that the new Kinder Morgan oil pipeline will run close to even more local schools.

The teachers' association is opposed to the pipeline expansion and has joined a growing number of applicants hoping to intervene in the National Energy Board's upcoming hearing for the project.

"The concern is if there is a pipeline rupture ­– and it's inevitable there will be, we just don't know how bad it's going to be – our members, as far as we know, haven't received any training on how to deal with a pipeline leak," said Patrick Parkes, the association's first vice-president. "A pipeline leak is pretty different from an earthquake or a fire. I don't know what you can do to adequately protect staff and students from airborne issues."

Read article: http://www.burnabynow.com/burnaby-teachers-raising-pipeline-concerns-1.806906

Resources:

The Smalley Foundation is committed to increasing safety and awareness for those who live, work and play near oil-and-gas equipment and pipelines. We do this by empowering the general public, training first responders and partnering with the industry. http://smalleyfnd.org/

School Pipeline Safety Partnership www.schoolpipelinesafety.org

Bring the Lessons of 1937 to Your School

  

What is a Healthy Schools Hero?

HEROES understand that when it comes to making decisions that impact children, "no risk is acceptable if it is avoidable."  

HEROES are committed to building schools for occupancy by children recognizing that standards, building codes, and guidelines that are based on the average adult male or workplace regulations are not safe for children because children are not little adults.
 
HEROES serve as a resource and mentor to the school community, setting up in-house systems for community participation, health surveillance, and ongoing hazard identification and control.
 
HEROES support the rights of parents to be involved in the decisions that affect their children, acknowledging that without informed parents, there will never be enough experts or inspectors to ensure schools are the healthy places and safe havens they are supposed to be.

HEROES educate community members, preparing them to exercise their special rights as parents, employees, patients, students and citizens.  

HEROES advocate for precautionary standards and protective measures as active members of building committees, school health advisory councils, site-based management boards, and environmental quality teams that set child safety standards and guidelines for school design, renovation, operations and maintenance, pest-proofing, lab safety, and all activities in and around the school.

Yes, it is painful to threaten the illusion of safety in a school or community and to talk about death and loss. The New London School Explosion survivors did not talk about their painful experiences for more than forty years. Their stories clearly teach us that it is even more painful to live with a tragedy when opportunities to prevent loss were unseen or overlooked.

• Who Is Your 2014 Healthy Schools Hero?

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Webinar Series

Beyond Benign is leading a series of webinars aimed at high school chemistry teachers. Register here to join us!

May 30, 2013, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm EST
Introducing Green Chemistry into the High School

 

June 6, 2013, 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm EST
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Safer Chemistry: Drop-In Replacement Labs