When Roosevelt Union Free School District spent $1 on property for a new middle school, administrators didn't realize how much money the project would eventually cost.

Two years later and $10 million over budget, Roosevelt Middle School will open at least a year later than planned. The site served as a county mosquito control facility for more than 40 years before Nassau County sold it to the district. It was contaminated with known carcinogens, such as the gas additive MTBE and pesticides like Chlordane and DDE. DDT, a pesticide banned by the federal government in the 1970s, was found in quantities of 400 times the safe level.

Environmentalists argue it is absurd to build the Roosevelt Middle School on a toxic dump. Administrators believe the state or county should foot the bill for cleaning the site, but for now the district has paid for everything.