Refinery Reform Campaign

Safe at school? The chemical threat to Southeast Texas students

by: Erin Koenig
The Examiner - Southeast Texas
March 6, 2003

An overwhelming number of students in the state attend schools dangerously close to chemical plants and refineries that emit toxic chemicals known to cause cancer, learning disabilities and other serious health problems, according to a new report by the Refinery Reform Campaign (RRC).

The "A is for Air Pollution" report, which was based on information gathered from the Environmental Protection Agency's 2000 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI), found that nearly two thirds of hazardous chemicals from refineries and chemical plants are released within two miles of schools in eight Texas counties - Ector, El Paso, Galveston, Gregg, Harris, Jefferson, Nueces and Orange counties.

"More than 142,000 children in Texas go to school in the shadow of refineries and chemical plants that every year are allowed to collectively release millions of pounds of toxic chemicals," said RRC's Denny Larson. "Few parents realize that the state of Texas has no plan or protocol to ensure that the air children breathe at schools near toxic emitters is safe."

"Central to this problem is that there is no consistent air monitoring at these schools or on the fence lines of neighboring plants," he continued. "In addition, the state's established thresholds for how much pollution is safe to endure are grossly insufficient and essentially toothless."

Harris County topped the list of the eight counties. Approximately 77,972 students there attend schools within two miles of 55 chemical plants. Those plants accounted for 17.22 million pounds of toxic emissions in 2000.

Jefferson County ranked second worst in the number of children exposed to large volumes of toxic chemicals while at school. Approximately 21,779 students at 36 local schools (see detailed breakdown in accompanying side) are within the two-mile zone of 21 chemical plants. In 2000, those plants released 9.17 million pounds of chemicals, according to TRI reports, which do not include accidental emissions from upsets.

In Orange County, five schools with an enrollment of approximately 3,026 students are at risk from emissions at six nearby chemical plants.

"Children are especially vulnerable to chemical pollution, their bodies biological defense systems are still developing, they tend to exercise more, are outside more often, and breathe lower to the ground where pollution tends to settle," Larson said. "Despite this vulnerability, parents are not required to be notified of the potential threat of industrial 'second-hand' smoke that can drift into classrooms where their children are enrolled. Parents have the right to know this information." Louisiana and Texas lead the nation as the number one and two emitters of developmental and neurological toxins. A growing number of scientists believe these types of toxins could be partly responsible for the increased incidence of various physical and mental effects in children - low birth weight, premature births, atrial septal defect (a hole in the wall between two chambers of the heart), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism, to name a few.

Children born near sources of industrial air pollution are about 20 percent more likely to die of leukemia and solid tumor (non-blood) cancers before they reach adulthood, according to a team of British researchers at the University of Birmingham Medical School.

A 1997 report of children who died of leukemia and cancer in Great Britain also found that those born up to three miles from producers, refiners and industrial users of petroleum fuel and volatile petroleum products had the highest number of childhood cancer deaths.

About 50 people gathered on Port Arthur's industrialized West Side last August to voice their concerns to Congressman Nick Lampson, D-Beaumont, over local pollution and its effect on residents' health. Among them was Brenda Drago, of the Children's Miracle Network of Southeast Texas, who confirmed that the network has seen an increase in local childhood cancers.

"Our numbers of leukemia and various types of rare, blood disorders have increased by about 15 percent in the last year," she said.

"A lot of people are suffering - our kids are suffering. Many of the kids around here have asthma or other illnesses," added Hilton Kelley, founder of Community In Power and Development, a Port Arthur group that works closely with RRC. "We don¹t want to drive the plants away. We just want them to work with us on making this community a safer place to live."

Based on the report's findings, members of the RRC, a statewide project of the Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition in Austin, met at the state capitol Tuesday to educate lawmakers about the hazards of pollution and the need for new legislation to address the issue.

The group recommended better air monitoring from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality of schools neighboring plants and refineries. The data should then be compared to established safety health levels and made available to parents, children and school officials, according to the report.

"Evaluate the health of kids attending schools located near large industry for future industrial expansions and siting (land use) decisions; set effects screening levels that take into account how pollution affects children and the cumulative impact of toxic pollution,"the report states. "Implementation of the Safe at School plan could be paid for by assessing penalties on excess upset emissions from large industries. A dollar per pound fee assessed when plants release more than 10,000 pounds of upset or accidental emissions would establish a robust fund to support air monitoring, timely and effective public notice and health evaluations for new and existing schools.

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