Board Member Calls for School’s Closure Because of Oily Seepage

A Cudahy elementary school should be ordered closed because of a mysterious, oily substance seeping up through asphalt on a closed area of the school’s playground, a Los Angeles city schools official recommended Tuesday.

Board of Education member Leticia Quezada, who represents the Cudahy area in southeast Los Angeles County, made the recommendation for the Park Avenue School during an evening meeting of an environmental task force investigating the seepage.

She said the full school board would have to agree to the closure but the school could be shut down as soon Monday if the board ratifies her plan.

Enrollment at the year-round school, which sits on an old dump site, fluctuates between 700 and 1,000, and a new group of students is scheduled to begin classes Monday. School officials said those students would be transferred to other schools if the closure goes through.

An independent consultant hired to investigate the seepage told the task force Tuesday night that preliminary investigation indicates that the substance is coming from beneath the surface.

“It’s a complex mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons--a tarry-type, oily substance that usually surfaces during the summer months,” said Angelo Bellomo , director of McLaren Environmental Engineering in Burbank. “It’s highly acidic, like battery acid.”

Bellomo told the panel that the only danger to students would come from direct contact.

“Because many parents feel uneasy, my major concern is if there is extensive work to be done, can it be done while the children are here?” Quezada told the 21-member task force. “It would better serve the staff and students to close the school and temporarily relocate somewhere else.”

Officials were unable to estimate how long the school might be closed. Bellomo said it could take anywhere from 12 to 18 months just to develop a plan to assess the extent of the problem. An undetermined amount of additional time would be needed to correct the seepage.

No members of the task force objected to closing the school. The group is made up of school officials, parents, teachers, representatives from state and federal health and environmental agencies and Cudahy city officials.

The move to close the school surprised Manuel Dortha, a parent who serves on the task force, but he said it is “better that we play it safe.” He also said his only concern was that some families who can now walk their children to school may face some hardship if their youngsters are sent out of the area.

Art Limon, another parent on the panel, said he was concerned about long-range health effects and suggested that the school district administer health tests to the students. Some parents have said their children have suffered eye irritations, rashes and headaches.

Maria Casillas, the assistant superintendent for the Cudahy area, said the school district would be willing to do “random testing” on students.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials collected water, air and soil samples from the school’s playground earlier this month. They said they will need three to four months to determine what the substance is.