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Austin (Leander), TX: Moldy, chemical plant to become school

Parents are up in arms and have started several websites to protest the use of a mold-ridden, former chemical plant as their new elementary school. TX officials are downplaying the health significance - playing politics with the children's lives?

Hazardous, Moldy Site Slated for Elementary School in Austin, TX area

See all articles, comments and parent websites, below, to learn about the Leander ISU's (Leander Independent School District) incredible plan to renovate a moldy petro-chemical plant in TX into an elementary school AND to see what Leander parents are doing about it, on their two websites. Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...this is the result of not protecting the health of our children in schools in the United States. This district is actually proceeding with the plan to continue and is attempting to convince their upset parent community that it is not only safe but a good idea. What's so good about it? Why, they bought it cheaper than it would cost to buy a good piece of land and build a healthy school on it. Do they care about the health of the children more than money? Read for yourself and see what you think.

"According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Grandview Hills Elementary at RM 620 and RM 2222 posed a potentially “moderate to high risk of hazard."
The school site received a four out of five, with five being the most hazardous a site can be, from the TCEQ."1

Two parent groups have websites that are included at the end of this collection of articles, and visiting these will show you what they think. We think that enough children have been sickened by poisonous schools in this country. We urge Leander ISU to sell that property and build a healthy school on uncontaminated land! We urge parents there not to endanger their children.

1. http://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_191174340.html

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Moldy PetroChemical Site Planned As Elementary School in Texas
Click http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=187922 to view video and read story on News 8, Austin, TX

TCEQ OKs Leander school site
7/11/2007 11:43 AM
By: Chelsea Hover

Grandview Hills Elementary School in the Leander Independent School District won't open this fall as planned. Its location at Sasol North America Inc., a former chemical research and development facility, has concerned some parents.

"We had a review of environmental results on the site before we purchased it," Bill Britcher of Leander ISD said.

The school district bought the property in September for more than $14.5 million because it was cheaper than building a new campus.

When the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality reviewed the site, the only findings that could pose a hazard are actually not related to the building's past. The TCEQ says it found some traces of a tar substance which could have been from asphalt runoff and some vapor samples from under the building's foundation had traces of chloroform.

WATCH THE VIDEO

http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=187922

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Site reviewed

A former chemical research facility was determined safe by the TCEQ for an elementary school.

TCEQ measures potential hazards on a very conservative basis. Even on that scale, they said the risk level is small.

"We didn't see that there was a whole lot out there that was a concern from a health standpoint," TCEQ toxicologist Michael Aplin said.

In a separate inspection, mold was found in some of the future classrooms. The brick walls and insulation will have to be removed and replaced. The district will ask the board for nearly $4 million needed for that project.

The school district says they're pleased with the results. Students who were assigned to Grandview Hill next school year will now go to Riverplace Elementary, another new school being built down the street.

Meanwhile, the TCEQ will pass their findings on to the Environmental Protection Agency for further review.

"When that gets back we'll go ahead and take care of scraping those retention ponds and venting out that chloroform from under the slab," Britcher said.

Featured Articles

(CBS 42) LEANDER Parents already upset about a school slated to go on the site of a former chemical plant are angry about a new study just released about the safety of the land.

According to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Grandview Hills Elementary at RM 620 and RM 2222 posed a potentially “moderate to high risk of hazard."

The school site received a four out of five, with five being the most hazardous a site can be, from the TCEQ.

Parents are fuming. But the TCEQ says it's not as bad as it sounds.

“It appears bad but it's not really that bad,” said Michael Bame, with the TCEQ.

Bame says that they did find residual chemicals on the site of Grandview Hill Elementary. But as long as those chemicals are removed, which the Leander Independent School District has said it plans to do, the site should not be hazardous and would be OK to house a school.

For Beth Ward, who has four children, that is not good enough. She is upset. She doesn't want her children attending school where there are health risks.

She finds the TCEQ ranking of four especially disturbing.

“They are going to be there seven, eight hours a day, five days a week,” Ward said. “I have four children so I will have four kids going there for five years. That's a lot to risk if you haven't done a thorough investigation.”

The TCEQ plans further testing.

Mold found in the school delayed the opening from this fall until fall 2008.

The Leander School District say kids will be just fine going to school there.

The Leander School Board is scheduled to meet Thursday.

http://keyetv.com/video/?id= This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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http://keyetv.com/topstories/local_story_137224137.html

May 17, 2007 9:39 pm US/Central

Mold Delaying Opening Of New Leander ISD School
Video: Watch Our Latest News
Gregg Watson
Reporting

(CBS 42) LEANDER Mold in the walls, construction delays and permit problems means Leander Independent School District can't open a new school.

Grandview Hills Elementary on Vista Park Drive was supposed to start classes in the fall. But that could be delayed months, sending the kids to another school.

Some parents say they're not surprised mold is growing on the walls. They say that's expected from a building that used to be a chemical company.

Although school leaders say the mold isn't dangerous, they're not opening the campus until they are sure the mold is gone.

But some parents are still worried.

"I guess, overall, I’m just concerned that the purchase may have been rushed,” Grandview Hills parent Kelly O’Rourke said. “I'm happy that they found it before the kids were going to school there."

Ruthie Black will have a child at the school. The mold mess doesn’t bother her.

"I’m not concerned,” Black said. “I believe that our school district has shown that it will take care of the problem. It won't open until it has."

School leaders told a crowded cafeteria of concerned citizens, Grandview Hills opening could be delayed until January.

The district plans to send the kids to the brand new River Place about three miles away.

"They will be housed in one wing of that school and a couple of portable buildings,” Leander School District spokesman Bill Britcher said. “They'll have their own identity and will be ready to move to the new school, if we can open it during the school year."

“The students will have their separate administration principals, they'll be isolated basically, except for core facilities,” Leander school trustee Don Hisle said. “It's going to work out."

Several studies on the site say the land is safe for students.
The district just wants to make sure, and delaying the opening is a way to do that.

The district bought the land for almost $15 million last year.
So with so much invested in the project the district is determined to see classes someday at Grandview Hills.

A district spokesman said there is a chance Grandview Hills may not open next year at all. But he says the district is doing all it can to prevent that from happening.

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Grandview Hills Elementary Opening Delayed

from Leander ISD Home Page

Leander ISD Superintendent Tom Glenn, Board members and administrators met with PTA officers and home owners association representatives from Grandview Hills and River Place elementaries on May 16th to announce that Grandview Hills Elementary will not open in time for the August 27th start of the 2007 – 2008 school year. The meetings were to discuss LISD’s plan to house the Grandview Hills Elementary students and staff until the new campus is completed.

The Grandview Hills Elementary building will not open until at least January 2008, and could potentially not open at all this school year. The delay in opening is due to the following factors:
a.) rain which has greatly exceeded norms, causing significant construction setbacks;
b.) continuing construction and site permitting issues with the City of Austin; and,
c.) the recent discovery of mold behind exterior wall brickwork.

While this mold is not airborne and poses no current health hazard, District officials explained that they will not allow the risk of any future exposure, and will, therefore, remove all possible mold sources before placing any students or staff on this campus. This will push the already delayed project into a 2008 opening.

In order for Grandview Hills to open with its own separate identity and proceed with the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme, the full Grandview Hills Elementary (GVH) operation will be housed at River Place Elementary until GVH is ready for occupancy. Grandview Hills Principal Brenda Cruz and River Place Elementary Principal Paul Smith are working together to develop systems for the new schools and will continue to work with District-level staff to create the best learning environment for each campus. The May 16th meetings were to begin notifying parents of the situation, and to give them the opportunity to help smooth the transition. Subsequent e-mails of this information were shared with all area parents signed up for the Leander ISD Insider e-mail communication system.

Grandview Hills Elementary will be housed downstairs in one wing and in five portable buildings on the River Place Elementary campus, allowing GVH to maintain its separate campus identity while they await their permanent campus home – an idea strongly supported by the Grandview Hills Elementary PTA and homeowners reps. Students from both schools will share common areas such as the cafeteria, library and gymnasium/multi-purpose room. (Together, the populations of the two campuses will be less than River Place Elementary’s 880-student design capacity.)

Leander ISD has first-hand experience with this co-location of schools, having done so with Cypress Elementary prior to its Spring Break 1988 opening. The Cypress Elementary campus was housed in its entirety in portables behind Leander ISD’s Faubion Elementary during the months prior to the school’s opening. Cypress operations were moved to their new campus during a weeklong Spring Break, allowing students and faculty to finish out the year at their new campus.

The Grandview Hills Elementary plan was discussed during the “Construction Update” agenda item at the Leander ISD Board of Trustees’ May 17, 2007 meeting. The District will host two Town Hall Meetings for parents and interested community members on Thursday, May 24th at the Steiner Ranch Community Center. LISD will meet with Grandview Hills Elementary parents from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., and with River Place Elementary parents from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Final Environmental Testing Results
Weston Solutions,the environmental firm hired by Leander ISD to do a second round of confirmation testing on potential environmental issues at the Grandview Hills Elementary site and building, proclaimed Grandview Hills Elementary “an extremely safe school” at the Thursday, May 3rd Leander ISD Board of Trustees Meeting. Susan Litherland – Vice President in charge of the southern region for Weston Solutions and the environmental engineerwho oversaw the testing at Grandview Hills – said she had “no reservations” about LISD’s placing of an elementary campus on this site.
Testing of the site included soil sampling at 123 locations on the property, 19 indoor air samples, testing of sub-slab materials and vapors, wipe samples of remaining building structure and sheetrock, testing of an acid neutralization tank under the building and electromagnetic frequency testing of power lines that run along one side of the property. All test results were compared to Texas Commission on Environmental Quality standards for residential property, the most-conservative standards available. (These standards assume 30-year exposure periods – including infancy and childhood – and assume that children might be eating vegetables grown in the soil on site.)

All indoor air samples were safely below comparison values/standards, and magnetic field readings were below the standards set by the six states that have such standards. Some tarry materials were found in retention ponds near asphalt parking lots on the site. (Litherland reports that these were most certainly due to asphalt and parking lot sealant run-off, not any plant-related activities.) Leander ISD will scrape and remove topsoil from these areas, then have Weston retest.

Weston did find low concentrations of chloroform under the building slab (in amounts you would expect from approximately 10 drops of the chemical, said Litherland), and some chemicals from gasoline. Weston recommends the installation of a venting system to dissipate these low concentrations, with periodic follow-up testing.

The Weston Board Meeting Presentation is available via this website, as is the Executive Summary of their Final Environmental Report. Weston’s results have been forwarded to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Click here for the Weston Final Environmental Report on Grandview Hills Elementary. (This is a zip file because it is very large. Please be patient when downloading.)

Leander Parent Group Websites
The Clean Schools Initiative

http://cleanschoolsinitiative.org/

The Clean Schools Initiative, a citizen's group founded by concerned parents, was organized as a result of our school district’s decision to re-purpose a former chemical research laboratory with an elementary school. Our backgrounds are varied, including medical, scientific, business and technology.

There is no legislation in Texas preventing our school district from building this school on contaminated land. We plan to lobby for new legislation to prevent this from happening again.

Our Mission

Clean Schools Initiative wants healthy schools for all children. Our focus is keeping schools free of hazardous and toxic chemicals that originate from industrial and commercial sites. Our organization believes that the community’s tax dollars should be used responsibly to purchase uncontaminated property for the use of elementary, middle and high schools.

We are community voices facilitating collective action by building local and State initiatives that are focused on our concern for environmentally safe schools in Texas. Our resources and dedication will be used for the pathways toward change. We believe by informing our communities, we can build political pressure from the bottom up, one neighbor at a time.

(located in the greater Austin TX area, Leander Independent School District, Leander, TX

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A few examples from this outstanding concerned parent/citizen site:

“Outrageous and Unacceptable” and “Leander children will be serving as guinea pigs” – Dr. Neil Carman, Director of Air Quality, Texas Lone Star Chapter, Sierra Club

Leander Independent School District purchased a former petrochemical research and development facility to repurpose it into an elementary school. Environmental investigations confirm the presence of hazardous chemicals on the property and under the school building. The environmental consulting firm hired by the district, Weston Solutions, has deemed the school safe with remediation and corrective action, including soil removal and an engineered venting system to remove toxic vapors from beneath the concrete slab of the school (a link to the Weston Final report is available at "Latest News").

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Leander Kids First (Parent website)

http://leanderkidsfirst.net

Who We Are
Submitted by lkf on Fri, 2007-01-19 03:24.
We're a group of average Leander ISD* parents who started a web site for other parents in Leander ISD. We don't have fancy titles or roles, just inquisitive minds and caring hearts.

Your letters and suggestions for content are always welcome - send to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

To join, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

What We Stand For

* Academic robustness as the highest priority
* Revitalized Science and Engineering curricula
* Higher college enrollment rates
* Measurable programs to reduce dropout rates
* Term Limits for Board of Trustees
* National search for a new Superintendent
* Sane Zoning
* Proactive land purchasing using a master plan
* Professional ethics with faculty
* Zero portable classrooms
* International Baccalaureate option from primary through high school
* Orchestra Program
* Student uniforms
* Very high transparency of internal operations: all major documents in a web based repository for public access
* A clear, published curriculum for each grade
* Annual surveys of parents and faculty
* Superintendent evaluations that include parent and faculty inputs
* Open, online forums for parent and faculty feedback to Board
* New facilities should be built to "green" (LEED) standards
* Board members who certify they have no direct or indirect financial interest in the district

* Leander Independent School District, Leander TX

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An example from this admirable site:

A Moldy Excuse For More Time?
Submitted by lkf on Mon, 2007-05-21 17:52.

Grandview Hills Elementary. First a questionable site. Then hurried environmental due diligence, opening the window for EPA and Texas Commission for Environmental Quality involvement. Then the lack of an approved site plan, un-permitted land clearing, un-permitted construction, rejected permits, and construction red tags. Then the Weston report and the need for a special "vent pipe" for vapors, and low level but unexplained chemicals detected where they shouldn't be. After all that, mold stops the school? (Interesting too that mold comes home to roost just after the election.)

A query to the district (Ellen Skoviera) allowed that the mold was "sparse to none". Hmmmm. Whether or not it's just a way to buy time, even a layman can see something is amiss with project management. Why is that?

Why isn't the school opening this Fall? Is it really the fault of the City of Austin permit office, or environmental testing that should have been done before the property was purchased, or mother nature, or even the mold? No, it's the incomplete initial due diligence, an overly ambitious construction plan without room for error, a chain of faulty project management, and a twist of arrogance.

What's next?

~Pete Isburgh

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