Colton district repeatedly says no to requests to sample air near ...

Tag : Cement Sheet

The snubbing took Wallerstein by surprise. Never before during his24 years at the air district had he seen school officials refuseaccess to campuses for air sampling, he said.
"It is ridiculous ..." Wallerstein said. "There is no danger posedby any of the sampling equipment and it would have given theschools first-hand information about their air quality."
Stella Garcia, a Colton High parent, said school officials shouldallow the air sampling.
"That's only for the protection of our kids," said Garcia, whose17-year-old daughter, Karissa, just graduated. Her 14-year-old,Katarina, who has asthma, will be a sophomore.
"I would think that would be one of their many priories -- not onlyeducation, but also health and safety," Garcia said.
The schools district's reasoning was unclear this week.
Cridelich's letter stated: "We have been advised by our expertsthat we should not involve the (school) district" in the airpollution testing.
Jerry Almendarez, assistant superintendent for human resources, anddistrict spokeswoman Katie Orloff both said they did not know whoadvised the district or what advice was provided. Almendarez addedthat the district may reconsider.
Orloff said Cridelich was on vacation and could not be reached toexplain the reasoning.
School board member Mel Albiso said he did not know the technicalreasons for refusing the air district, but said administrators hadtold him they felt the district's role is educating children, nottesting air.
At Albiso's request, the school board will discuss the airdistrict's request at its July 8 meeting, he said.
"I don't see what the down side is to testing the air," Albisosaid.
Another school board member, Frank Ibarra, declined to comment,saying he didn't have sufficient information to publicly discussthe matter.
The air district first contacted the school district in March as itwas honing in on the TXI Riverside Cement Co. plant north ofRiverside. The air district suspected the plant was a source ofelevated levels of hexavalent chromium first discovered in theRubidoux area. In sufficient amounts, the substance can causecancer, respiratory problems, kidney failure and skin rashes, amongother ailments, according to a California Air Resources Board factsheet.
After conducting tests near the TXI plant, air district officialssaid cement dust from the facility posed an unacceptable risk forcancer -- an estimated 500 cases per million people.
Air district officials were also concerned that dust fromCalifornia Portland Cement Co. in Colton may contain hexavalentchromium. The plant is within a few thousand feet of the two highschools contacted about air sampling, separated by Interstate 10.
According to Cridelich's letter, the school district first rejectedthe air district's request on March 18, and again in May afterWallerstein had asked Superintendent James A. Downs to reconsider.
The school district also declined invitations to attend town hallmeetings about the hexavalent chromium problems, the letter said.
But "to show the (school) district's support," the letter said,Colton officials allowed the air district to host a meeting atColton High School the evening of May 29.
The air district did find higher levels of hexavalent chromium justoutside the Colton cement plant, but the problem was not as severeas at the Riverside plant. Still, Wallerstein said, he plans totest air near the two Colton high schools to get an idea of airquality there.
Air district spokeswoman Tina Cherry said the district wanted toplace on each campus a device that measures fine-particlepollution. Each machine needs 6 square feet of space, she said.
Other schools in the Inland area have cooperated with air pollutionofficials, Cherry said. The Jurupa Unified School District lets thedistrict operate full-scale air monitoring stations on the campusesof Jurupa Valley High School and Van Buren Elementary School.
Reach staff writer David Danelski at 951-368-9471 orddanelski@PE.com