Many students learned during the semester break that chemicals known to cause cancer were found in the soil of a former fire-training site on Penn State property. For a lot of those students, it might have sounded alarming, especially since many of those students drink the water from wells near the contaminated site.

The site along Big Hollow Road was used for fire training as well as chemical burning before 1997; the discovery of heating oil leaks in March 1997 prompted an immediate cleanup of the area. Subsequent tests found dangerous carcinogenics had contaminated the soil.

The university assured the public that the drinking water from the wells near the site had not been contaminated and that plans were in the works to clean up the chemicals from the site.

But now that there is proof that environmental negligence exists, it's time that the university takes responsibility for informing the public on the possible danger of the chemicals found in the soil.

If the chemicals did not pose a threat to the health and safety of those who live, work and learn at Penn State, then there would be no reason for the university to suddenly decide to spend so much money to clean it up.

So why did it take so long for the university to get around to cleaning up the site? It has been a known fact for more than a decade that cancer-causing chemicals were used on the site. It wasn't new to Penn State or to others who have used the site.

While it's great the university is spending the money to clean up this environmental problem, it's not something to be lauded. Taking responsibility for your actions is the right thing to do, and it's about time that the university did so if it is aware of other environmental hazards.

But what other past practices, such as chemical burning and other such contaminating activities, had been put to use? If the university is aware of past practices that might be harmful now, now is the time to own up to them.