By Fredie Carmichael

editor@themeridianstar.com



Enterprise High School is among 15 schools in eight states on which government regulators are focusing an intense effort to monitor levels of toxic pollutants in the air outside the school.

The Environmental Protection Agency said they found elevated levels of a toxic chemical near the schools, according to a USA Today report. The chemical, acrolein, can exacerbate asthma and irritate the eyes and throat. It is a byproduct of burning gasoline, wood and cigarettes. Regulators found average acrolein levels at least 100 times higher than what the government considers safe for long-term exposure at the 15 schools, according to the USA Today report.

EPA officials would not say specifically what caused them to monitor Enterprise. According to the EPA Web site, they identified schools for monitoring “based on information that raised some questions about air quality that merit investigation.”

“That included the best data available to us about air pollution in the vicinity of the school, information about wind direction and speed, results of a computer modeling analysis, results from a recent newspaper analysis, and information from state and local air agencies,” the EPA site said.

“It could have come from any of those findings,” said Dawn Harris-Young, a media specialist for EPA’s Atlanta office.

The good news: since the state’s Department of Environmental Quality began monitoring the air around Enterprise two months ago, they’ve found below-average levels of acrolein, said Danny Jackson of the DEQ’s pollution control office in Jackson.

Jackson said his office began collecting air samples around the school two months ago at the request of EPA’s Atlanta office.

“The results we’ve collected so far are measuring a concentration below what’s called the risk screening level,” Jackson said. “It means no problems. We’ve been below that level. Our measurements are showing there are no problems.”

Jackson said he wasn’t sure what data was used to target Enterprise for the monitoring.

Enterprise School Superintendent Arthur McMillan said Jackson and other DEQ officials have told him there’s nothing to worry about.

“We’ve been in touch with them since they began monitoring,” McMillan said. “They assured us we’re well within the norm.”

The EPA’s monitoring is part of a $2.25 million program that began in response to a USA TODAY investigation that identified hundreds of schools where chemicals from nearby industries appear to saturate the air. The preliminary results are meant to help determine only whether students face any immediate dangers from toxic chemicals. The EPA will use additional tests to evaluate long-term health risks.

The presence of acrolein at so many schools across the country — through computer detection or projections — was not explained by EPA.

EPA spokesman Brendan Gilfillan said the initial readings show “more must be done to reduce the amount of acrolein the American people, especially children, are exposed to.”

At the 15 schools — in Alabama, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, Ohio and South Carolina (of which Enterprise was included) — regulators found average acrolein levels at least 100 times higher than what the government considers safe for long-term exposure, according the USA Today report.

The highest level was recorded in August at Spain Elementary School in Detroit.

Harris said parents shouldn’t be alarmed. The chemical acrolein is “everywhere.”

“It would probably be surprising if it wasn’t found,” she said. “We don’t want people to suddenly get worried. That’s why the EPA is monitoring it — to see what the levels are around the schools to see what, if anything, needs to be done.”



The Associated Press contributed to this report.