PLACENTIA : Charges by Parents Denied by Diocese

The Diocese of Orange on Wednesday angrily denied allegations by a group of Catholic school parents that a parish priest had allowed unsafe conditions to persist at St. Joseph School here.

“It is simply incorrect to say that we failed to take further action,” said Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, a spokesman for the diocese. “We took action as is documented by two different environmental reports.”

The Diocese of Orange issued its statement in response to a lawsuit filed in Orange County Superior Court on Tuesday by a group of parents. In the suit, the parents allege that school officials ignored unsafe toxic levels in some classrooms. One parent, Theresa Carey, said several children became ill from exposure to noxious fumes.

Baird denied the charges Wednesday. He said parish officials had established a committee to review the charges and that two separate environmental studies had been conducted to investigate complaints from parents. A study conducted by a private consulting firm found it “extremely unlikely” that any dangerous compounds existed in high enough quantities to pose a health hazard, he said.

A second study conducted Feb. 10 by the federal Environmental Protection Agency also concluded that there were no violations of federal regulations on the campus, and the Diocese of Orange recently contacted the Orange County Health Care Agency to conduct a third study during the Easter vacation, Baird added.

He also said that the Diocese of Orange has established a committee to review the charges and has retained a private investigator to look into concerns raised by parents over the past few weeks.

“A paramount concern of the Diocese of Orange has been and remains the health and welfare of the children in its schools,” the public statement said.

The parents’ lawsuit seeks $1 million in damages and asks that the court order the Diocese of Orange to allow an outside toxicologist to conduct tests on the classrooms.

Baird said it was unclear what action, if any, will be taken against Father John Ruhl, the parish priest at St. Joseph Church who is accused in the lawsuit of threatening parents and children.

Baird said Ruhl was in Chicago Wednesday due to the illness of his father.