Howard
Blume | LA Times | http://lat.ms/1Yl4Tiz
Dec 16, 2015 7:30
AM ::
Los Angeles school district officials are developing a plan to relocate
students at two elementary schools affected by a nearby natural gas leak, The
Times has learned.
Under plans that have been under discussion,
students at Porter Ranch Community School and Castlebay Lane could be moved to
a currently closed campus or to other schools with space, said officials who
asked to remain anonymous because they were not authorized to speak.
Odor from the gas leak has been an irritant and a
distraction — and has affected attendance among staff and students at the
schools, according to the district and the teachers union.
The Board of Education is likely to take up the topic at
a Thursday meeting, where board members also are expected to resume
deliberating over the choice of the next leader for the nation’s second-largest
school system.
●● smf notes: The "Porter Ranch plans under discussion" are not on the agenda for the meeting above; unless the Board of Ed declares an emergency the topic cannot (or perhaps 'should not') be taken up at that meeting.
The gas being released is mostly methane, which is not
dangerous and does not pose long-term health risks, the L.A. County Department
of Public Health said. But an assessment by the department determined that mercaptans,
the nontoxic odorants added to natural gas to assist in leak detection, are
causing short-term health effects that should go away once the odors
cease.
Residents have linked the fumes to nausea, headaches,
nosebleeds and other illnesses -- some worrying that their health has
been seriously affected. More than 1,000 complaints have been lodged with
South Coast Air Quality Management District, with more coming in each day.
The Los Angeles city attorney and a local family have
sued the gas company.
A rotten-egg-like stench has lingered over Porter Ranch,
in the northwest San Fernando Valley, since Oct. 23, when Southern California
Gas Co. detected a leak in a well at its Aliso Canyon facility.
Under orders from the county health department, the gas
company is paying to relocate nearly 350 households affected by the odors,
placing them in hotels or other temporary housing, and is in the process of
moving residents from more than 500 other homes.
After unsuccessful attempts to plug the leak by pumping
fluid into the well, the gas company is moving to its backup plan: drilling a
relief well and then sealing off the leaking well, plugging it permanently with
cement. The process could take as long as four months. The company also is
testing an odor-neutralizing chemical it wants to spray into the air -- an idea
met with skepticism by residents and air quality officials.
The California Air Resources Board produced a report that
found the leak is releasing about 50,000 kilograms of methane an hour -- so
much that it's boosting California's emissions of the potent greenhouse gas by
25%. Local air quality officials have cited the company for public nuisance
violations.
The L.A. Unified School District began its own monitoring
of air quality at the schools Nov. 30.
Already this month, district officials sent letters to
parents pledging assistance for individual families who wish to relocate
to another campus or to set up a home schooling arrangement. Closing the
campuses entirely would represent a significantly accelerated response.
In a memo sent Friday to Supt. Ramon C. Cortines,
district staff reported ongoing concern.
“From these two weeks of monitoring, it is clear that the
reported short-term symptoms of the gas leak are rising in overall numbers,”
the memo says. “We have discussed these findings with the County Department of
Public Health, and they are also receiving more calls about health complaints
in the Porter Ranch community.”
Learning is being disrupted, according to the
internal report.
The total number of visits to the health office at each
school has increased and peaked recently on Dec. 9. Daily visits to the nurse’s
station ranged from from 9 to 38, with headache and stomachache as the most
common symptoms. There also were instances of nosebleeds, nausea and vomiting.
About 42% of these students with symptoms were sent home.
_________
●●smf’s 2¢: With LAUSD’s actions this week in closing down the entire district over a terrorist threat – citing an “an abundance of caution and to ensure safety and security in our schools” - and the District’s fiduciary “Duty of Care” and overarching commitment to student health and safety – the reticence to quickly act at Porter Ranch is certainly open to question.
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