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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Report: 1 in 10 MO Kids Attends School Near Chemical Facility

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Friday, April 18, 2014   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – One in 10 Missouri children spends several hours each weekday in the shadow of a potentially dangerous chemical facility, according to a new report by the Center for Effective Government.

Sean Moulton, the center’s director of open government policy, says parents and community members need to better understand the risks these facilities pose, and to push for changes.

He says the deadly explosion in West, Texas one year ago that destroyed one school and damaged two others should serve as a wake-up call.

"Students do fire drills every day, but I don't think many of these schools have ever really talked about what their plan would be if one of these facilities had a major accident while school was in session," he points out.

Moulton says more than 100 advocacy groups continue to recommend stronger disclosure rules and greater oversight of chemical facilities, as well as better emergency response plans.

An interactive map showing which schools are located near chemical facilities is available on the Center for Effective Government's website.

Moulton says one of the most important things the federal government can do to protect children and communities is to require these facilities to use safer chemicals and processes, whenever feasible.

"They have a responsibility to the communities that they operate within – to protect them, to protect their workers – and we think that the government should step in," he says.

Moulton points to the example of water treatment plants, many of which have switched from using chlorine gas, which would create a poisonous cloud if a spill occurred, to a much safer form of liquid chlorine, which would simply form a puddle.



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