Residents question how ICC might affect students’ health

Elementary school located near path of highway

Members of the Dr. Charles R. Drew Elementary School community in Silver Spring on Tuesday called for an immediate halt to Intercounty Connector construction until potential public health problems that could result from the planned highway are assessed.

Drew sits roughly 90 yards from the route of the planned 18-mile highway that will run from Route 1 in Laurel to Interstate 270 in Gaithersburg.

‘‘I've read the scientific literature that says children who go to school near a highway suffer severe health problems,” Elrich said. ‘‘I find it hard to believe that we would insist on building this road without understanding what the impact would be on the children at this school.”

According to the group Community Research, children living within 300 to 400 feet of the ICC would be at increased risk of decreased lung function and lung development because of air pollution.

‘‘Vulnerability of children to air pollution can not be understated,” said Dr. Benjamin Gitterman, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at George Washington University. ‘‘Making the problem get worse goes against the grain.”

Concerned parents and students from the school took the podium to express their concerns over possible harmful effects from pollution. Some cited a California state law that prohibits school districts from building campuses within 500 feet of a highway.

‘‘It's time for our elected officials to stop standing idly by while the State Highway Administration proceeds to replace our forests with a toxic corridor that threatens the health of our children,” said Laura Noyes, a Colesville resident whose daughter will be a student at Drew next year.

Many urged Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) to take action and stop the ICC altogether, even though construction started on the project in Derwood in December of last year. Construction on the section of the highway adjacent to Drew will start this fall.

Greg Smith of Takoma Park, who is a member of Community Research, a nonprofit group opposed to the ICC, said it took time to gather all the information about the ICC, which made it difficult to publicize health issues the project might pose before construction started.

‘‘The state never shared this information until January,” Smith said. ‘‘It takes time to get it out to the public.”