Toxic Site Study May Delay School Project

Construction of a badly needed school complex in South Gate could be delayed a year or more and its price tag raised millions of dollars because the school district must conduct new toxic studies of the site, school officials said Thursday.

Testifying at a legislative hearing, a Los Angeles Unified School District spokesman acknowledged that there has not been adequate assessment of toxic contamination at the former industrial property the district has been acquiring in pieces since 1988.

“We need to get a more realistic projection of the cost of toxic cleanup,” said spokesman Erik Nasarenko.

He declined to speculate on when the elementary and high school complex would open or how much it would exceed its $80-million budget. However, he did not contest an assertion that the final cost might be more than $100 million, with completion in 2002.

The district had hoped to open the schools in January 2000.

A group of parents and school officials from the small city southeast of downtown Los Angeles appeared at the hearing to vent their frustration over the delays and reaffirm their support for the schools despite the contamination.

“We know it’s contaminated,” said Michael Rosales, principal of nearby Tweedy Elementary School, a bungalow campus set up a decade ago to house students until the new South Gate elementary is completed. “We know it needs to be cleaned up. Let’s get it done.”

The South Gate property on Tweedy Boulevard, once home to small factories such as a metal degreaser and an iron smelter, is infused with harmful chemicals including benzine and gasoline.

Several residents testified that they would prefer to have the school built on contaminated land after it is cleaned up, rather than face community displacement through eminent domain.

State Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles) called the hearing of the Senate Natural Resources Committee to press for a new state policy to ensure the safety of schools built on contaminated sites.

Hayden has been extremely critical of the L.A. school district’s process for assessing toxic contamination of proposed school sites. He contends the district has given short shrift to environmental protection in its rush to build 51 new schools.

On Thursday, he proposed the creation of a children’s health and safety unit in the Department of Education, a single agency encompassing air, water and public health safety in the certification of new school sites and establishment of new environmental safety standards for schools.

He also urged the Los Angeles Unified School District to separate environmental review from the real estate department. He softened his tone somewhat after Nasarenko read a statement from Supt. Ruben Zacarias announcing the creation of a School Saftey Team that would manage all health and safety review of proposed new school sites.