[CPEO-BIF] "Toxic school investigation: State, feds knew about chemical threat for more than a decade, " Sonora, California

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

Toxic school investigation: State, feds knew about chemical threat for more than a decade


By Tamara Richter and Ty Steele  
KCRA TV-3 news (Sacramento, CA)
September 7, 2023

TUOLUMNE, Calif.  A Tuolumne County school building that was evacuated after students and teachers were exposed to a chemical linked to cancer has long been known to have that risk.

Our KCRA 3 Investigates team discovered state and federal officials have known about the risk of cancer there for more than a decade, but no testing was done on-site until this year.

...

According to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, in the room where Burgess said she worked, PCE levels were 1,400 micrograms per cubic meter. The lower floor where other students and teachers were, was 1,700 micrograms per cubic meter. According to the DTSC, the commercial cancer risk-based screening level is two.

For decades, PCE was used to dry clean fabric, and for decades, it was used by Heritage Dry Cleaners, which occupied the building until 2015. An EPA report from 2011 stated the business was documented to have used PCE since at least 1993, and potentially since the early 1970s.

…

For the entire story, see
https://www.kcra.com/article/tuolumne-county-school-had-cancer-risk-for-years/45029994


—

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)

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