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Media Release: February 4, 2008
New Lead Tests by Students in West Oakland Raise Concerns: Youth Demand Community Air Testing Program
Global Community Monitor – Rose Foundation
Media Release
For Immediate Release February 4, 2008
For More Information call Denny Larson, Global Community Monitor: 415-845-4705; Ina Bendich, teacher EXCEL Law Academy 510-386-1657, Jill Ratner, Rose Foundation: 510-658-0702.
New Lead Tests by Students in West Oakland Raise Concerns:
Youth Demand Community Air Testing Program
A second round of independent tests of metal fallout at EXCEL High School in the McClymonds Learning Complex and at a residential home in West Oakland showed an alarmingly high level of lead and other toxic metals. The metals found at both locations indicate that nearby industry may be routinely contaminating the area. Students are requesting additional community monitoring be supported by the County and Air District to determine the sources of lead and other toxins that have been detected in the school and surrounding neighborhood.
"We want to run our own monitors on the roof so that we can get more information and change things so that we can breathe fresh air," said Askari Smith one of the student leaders at EXCEL. "We know that lead is bad for our health and can cause brain damage."
In the most recent set of tests conducted by students, particle fallout in the third story classroom and at a house adjacent to industrial facilities on Union Street was tested for lead and other heavy metals. Lead levels in the classroom were 17 to 54 times above the US EPA safe level for indoor surfaces. Other potential toxics found in the schoolroom test were mercury, manganese, nickel and arsenic. An outdoor sample taken in the heart of the industrial area near the school contained many of these same potentially toxic substances. The students recently briefed Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Oakland City Council person Nancy Nadel on their findings. Nadel sent a letter to the Bay Area Air District supporting the students’ request for additional community monitoring.
“While there is an increase in monitoring planned for West Oakland, it is important to include hands-on community testing in industrial areas where people have a reason to be concerned,” said Denny Larson of the Global Community Monitor. Students at EXCEL High School have spent the past year being trained as local pollution monitors by Global Community Monitor, an international organization whose mission is to empower community members in how to test for toxic contamination in their neighborhoods.
The Global Community Monitor in conjunction with the Rose Foundation have educated and trained the students on testing,
have conducted several ‘pollution patrols’ of the industrial and residential areas of West Oakland. Students are trained on proper sampling gathering techniques, chain of custody forms and send their results to a US EPA accredited laboratory for analysis.
“It makes all the difference when our students are part of identifying the problem and finding the solution. That’s when civic participation really starts to make sense to them,” said Ina Bendich, the students’ teacher. “Students need to see that they can be part of changing things for the better, otherwise it’s just too easy to lose hope.”
Tests taken in April 2007 at the school and of debris found in a public street adjacent to Custom Alloy Scrap Sales, Inc (CASS) indicated potentially dangerous levels of lead and other heavy metals. CASS responded by assigning more staff to keep metal scrap off the public street. Unfortunately, students’ recent tests show that levels of harmful lead and other metals in fallout in the area continue to be a major concern. For that reason, further community air monitoring is imperative to collect more information and identify the sources of the lead and other toxins.
"We're mainly doing this for the younger ones, because they are just starting out in their lives and we want them to have a better future,” stated Lela Mae Harris, an EXCEL student active in the effort. “We want the next generation to have a chance to grow up healthy."
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