April 1, 2009
Breathing the Air: Air Quality Study Initiated Surrounding Five Tri-State Schools
Past and/or Present Industrial Activity at Issue
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Based on preliminary studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complemented by a study for USA TODAY under guidance by scientists from John Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Public Health , the EPA has selected 62 schools in 22 states for which the air outside will be monitored.
Schools in Huntington, Ashland and Ironton are included on the list. Although the monitoring is related to air outside schools, they are representative for breath intake in the vicinities surrounding the educational facilities. Bottom line --- this is not an excuse to cut classes or an invitation to change schools; the air quality encompass the surrounding communities.
Once the air quality has been studied, the EPA will then determine steps to mitigate the potentially toxic air that stems from past and present industrialization in and around the schools and communities.
“We had schools identified from one end of Huntington to the other,” explained J.D. Flowers, director of communications for Cabell County Schools.
Schools previously cited for exterior air problems in USA Today’s Smokestack issue were Spring Hill Elementary, Highlawn Elementary, Meadows Elementary, Geneva/Kent Elementary, Enslow Middle School, and Cabell County Career Technology Center.
William Smith, Superintendent of Cabell County Schools, explained, “We are all living, working, and worshipping in this community and the quality of the air affects each one of us equally. We happen to live in a heavily industrialized area, and it is not totally unexpected that the outdoor air quality would be affected by that.”
Testing will be done at the Technology Center which has a First Percentile national rank of 56 out of 127,809 schools with worst air outside. The rankings are --- according to USA Today --- based on modeled concentrations of chemicals known and unknown believed to cause cancer AND concentrations of chemicals that cause health problems other than cancer. (To read more about the Technical Center Ranking, click: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/school/96893)
Enslow and Highlawn ranked 66 , Geneva-Kent ranked 210, Spring Hill 0ranked 223, Beverly Hills Middle ranked ,85, Meadows ranked 411, Alternative Education Middle School (2860 Fifth Avenue; old Huntington East High School ) ranked 469, and Peyton ranked 504. Ironically, though Charleston is known as chemical valley South Charleston Middle ranked 800 followed by some in Nitro/St. Albans, which were in lower (better) air quality areas.
You can learn more about the rankings of all Cabell County Schools by clicking here: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/search/WV/Cabell+County+School+District/~/~/name/~/1/).
Whitwell Elementary, Ironton, Ohio as well as Charles Russell Elementary, Crabbe School and Hatcher School in Ashland, Ky. are included, as well as facilities in Follansbee and Vienna, WV and Marietta, Ohio.
Specifically, the Cabell County location will be tested for toxic metals contained in particulate matter that is ten micrometers in diameter or smaller (i.e. lead, nickel, manganese ) . The Kentucky and Ohio schools will also be tested for PAH: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (e.g., naphthalene, benzo(a)pyrene) and VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds (e.g., benzene, vinyl chloride).
IRONTON TESTING
Dean Nance, superintendent of Ironton City Schools, told HNN, he was happy to assist with the study stating that the results could allow Ironton residents to “breath easier” or “do =0 Asomething about it.” He explained, “I welcome anybody to come and test anything for me in order to reassure me, give me information or data about my schools and anything that impacts the lives of the children in my district.”
However, Nance indicated that the air sampling was a random selection, based on the Monday, March 30 call.
“We were randomly selected by the state,” Supt. Nance said of the phone call. “Ohio EPA wants to provide data that could assist the city, town, school or anybody in outdoor air quality. It might stem from the fact we used to be an industrial valley . We used to have Dayton Mallable, Carilye Tile, the cement plant, Armco used to be twice as big and produce a lot more pollution, Dow Chemicals, Airstack, They want to show us what our outside air quality is . I’m curious because [now] there’s no industrial in Ironton besides Emerson, which is Lebert , and they do not have any emissions. I’m glad we were selected because the air quality at that school will be similar to the home town. I’d like to know if we live in a safe town. If not, I’m going to be part of the solution trying to work with the EPA to find why the air is not safe. I don’t want to breathe bad air. As a superintendent, we’re happy to see someone is testing to m ake sure things are what they appear. When I breathe the air outside, I assume that it’s healthy.’
Ironically, the Whitwell building will be closed by the time results are known. Ironton has been building a new school for the last two years.
“That building will be closed by the time you get the results. [They’re] just looking at air quality, it’s not related to the school per se,” Nance said explaining that “geography” was a selection criteria. “They will be putting up a sensor for 60 days.”
The USA Today analysis published last fall demonstrated the presence of emissions such as heavy metals and soot surrounding the schools. For instance, the newspaper published that Follansbee Middle School and Jefferson Primary School both are located near a “cluster of plants that churn out tens of thousands of pounds of toxic gases and metals a year.” The paper stated that Highlawn Elementary School had high levels of nickel, too.
To access the index to the full USA Today reports, click:
http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
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Breathing the Air: Air Quality Study Initiated Surrounding Five Tri-State Schools
Past and/or Present Industrial Activity at Issue
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Reporter
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Based on preliminary studies by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency complemented by a study for USA TODAY under guidance by scientists from John Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Public Health , the EPA has selected 62 schools in 22 states for which the air outside will be monitored.
Schools in Huntington, Ashland and Ironton are included on the list. Although the monitoring is related to air outside schools, they are representative for breath intake in the vicinities surrounding the educational facilities. Bottom line --- this is not an excuse to cut classes or an invitation to change schools; the air quality encompass the surrounding communities.
Once the air quality has been studied, the EPA will then determine steps to mitigate the potentially toxic air that stems from past and present industrialization in and around the schools and communities.
“We had schools identified from one end of Huntington to the other,” explained J.D. Flowers, director of communications for Cabell County Schools.
Schools previously cited for exterior air problems in USA Today’s Smokestack issue were Spring Hill Elementary, Highlawn Elementary, Meadows Elementary, Geneva/Kent Elementary, Enslow Middle School, and Cabell County Career Technology Center.
William Smith, Superintendent of Cabell County Schools, explained, “We are all living, working, and worshipping in this community and the quality of the air affects each one of us equally. We happen to live in a heavily industrialized area, and it is not totally unexpected that the outdoor air quality would be affected by that.”
Testing will be done at the Technology Center which has a First Percentile national rank of 56 out of 127,809 schools with worst air outside. The rankings are --- according to USA Today --- based on modeled concentrations of chemicals known and unknown believed to cause cancer AND concentrations of chemicals that cause health problems other than cancer. (To read more about the Technical Center Ranking, click: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/school/96893)
Enslow and Highlawn ranked 66 , Geneva-Kent ranked 210, Spring Hill 0ranked 223, Beverly Hills Middle ranked ,85, Meadows ranked 411, Alternative Education Middle School (2860 Fifth Avenue; old Huntington East High School ) ranked 469, and Peyton ranked 504. Ironically, though Charleston is known as chemical valley South Charleston Middle ranked 800 followed by some in Nitro/St. Albans, which were in lower (better) air quality areas.
You can learn more about the rankings of all Cabell County Schools by clicking here: http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/search/WV/Cabell+County+School+District/~/~/name/~/1/).
Whitwell Elementary, Ironton, Ohio as well as Charles Russell Elementary, Crabbe School and Hatcher School in Ashland, Ky. are included, as well as facilities in Follansbee and Vienna, WV and Marietta, Ohio.
Specifically, the Cabell County location will be tested for toxic metals contained in particulate matter that is ten micrometers in diameter or smaller (i.e. lead, nickel, manganese ) . The Kentucky and Ohio schools will also be tested for PAH: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (e.g., naphthalene, benzo(a)pyrene) and VOC: Volatile Organic Compounds (e.g., benzene, vinyl chloride).
IRONTON TESTING
Dean Nance, superintendent of Ironton City Schools, told HNN, he was happy to assist with the study stating that the results could allow Ironton residents to “breath easier” or “do =0 Asomething about it.” He explained, “I welcome anybody to come and test anything for me in order to reassure me, give me information or data about my schools and anything that impacts the lives of the children in my district.”
However, Nance indicated that the air sampling was a random selection, based on the Monday, March 30 call.
“We were randomly selected by the state,” Supt. Nance said of the phone call. “Ohio EPA wants to provide data that could assist the city, town, school or anybody in outdoor air quality. It might stem from the fact we used to be an industrial valley . We used to have Dayton Mallable, Carilye Tile, the cement plant, Armco used to be twice as big and produce a lot more pollution, Dow Chemicals, Airstack, They want to show us what our outside air quality is . I’m curious because [now] there’s no industrial in Ironton besides Emerson, which is Lebert , and they do not have any emissions. I’m glad we were selected because the air quality at that school will be similar to the home town. I’d like to know if we live in a safe town. If not, I’m going to be part of the solution trying to work with the EPA to find why the air is not safe. I don’t want to breathe bad air. As a superintendent, we’re happy to see someone is testing to m ake sure things are what they appear. When I breathe the air outside, I assume that it’s healthy.’
Ironically, the Whitwell building will be closed by the time results are known. Ironton has been building a new school for the last two years.
“That building will be closed by the time you get the results. [They’re] just looking at air quality, it’s not related to the school per se,” Nance said explaining that “geography” was a selection criteria. “They will be putting up a sensor for 60 days.”
The USA Today analysis published last fall demonstrated the presence of emissions such as heavy metals and soot surrounding the schools. For instance, the newspaper published that Follansbee Middle School and Jefferson Primary School both are located near a “cluster of plants that churn out tens of thousands of pounds of toxic gases and metals a year.” The paper stated that Highlawn Elementary School had high levels of nickel, too.
To access the index to the full USA Today reports, click:
http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/index
Share This Story:
Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
