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Schumer Calls On EPA To Investigate Toxins At Long Island Middle School

Courtesy of Northport-East Northport Union Free School District

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer of New York has called on the Environmental Protection Agency to investigate high levels of mercury and benzene that were found near a Long Island middle school last month.

An environmental firm detected high levels of mercury vapor and benzene in septic systems and a cesspool near a Northport Middle School building.

School district officials closed the middle school for the remainder of the year and transferred its nearly 700 students to other schools.

Schumer is calling for an EPA investigation to address any potential contamination.

New York State is also investigating the site after the health department found a “statistically significant” rate of leukemia among its student graduates from 2016.

Jay Shah is a former Long Island bureau chief at WSHU.