How did three schools in environmentally-sensitive Berkeley end up
among the five California schools exposed to the worst industrial air
pollution in the state? Or among the 377 schools subjected to the worst
air pollution in the nation (out of 127,800)?
You can find out — maybe — by looking at an in-depth series
on industrial sources of air pollution and the effects on America's
school children — in USA Today. It consists of five separate stories,
multi-media, and an interactive database
which can be used to locate individual schools and see how they rank in
terms of the highest levels of dangerous toxic chemicals, most of which
have never been tested for their effects on children.
In addition to the three in Berkeley, the other worst-ranked schools
in California — all those in the 1st percentile — are located in Oro
Grande, in the Mojave desert, and San Marcos, near Escondido in
Southern California.
The story represents the kind of in-depth
journalism which is becoming increasingly difficult to accomplish these
days, so I'd like to commend the paper and its reporters for its
massive, months-long effort. USA Today worked with researchers and
scientists at UMass-Amherst, Johns Hopkins and University of Maryland
at College Park to analyze data from the National Center for Education
Statistics on toxic pollution in the air around 127,800 schools around
the country.
At the same time, the story's findings are fraught
with problems — and reveal the dangers of using massive data bases to
drill down to a community, and in this case, a school level –
especially when the reporters are across the country at USA Today
headquarters in Roslyn, Virginia. There is something profoundly
counter-intuitive about the findings.
I live a mile from the
Berkeley schools identified as being slap dab in the middle of one of
the most toxic air pollution zones in the country. Pacific Steel Casting,
a well known polluter, is identified as the biggest contributor to the
toxic environment. But there are schools and pre-schools even closer to
Pacific Steel that are not on the list — like the bilingual after
school program my children attend.
In addition, there are
disparities in findings that are confusing – and are causing alarm,
and even panic, probably unnecessarily among parents. For example, Berkwood Hedge School
in Berkeley, a couple of miles from Pacific Steel, is identified in the
top 2 percent of most polluted air environments in the nation — while Washington Elementary, just two blocks away, is listed as being among the top 8 percent. Berkeley High (with 3,000 students), just across the street from Washington Elementary, is also in the top 8 percent. Jefferson Elementary,
where my children go to school, which is just two blocks from my house,
falls into the 16th percentile — still a scary number if you're a
parent — even though it is closer to Pacific Steel than Berkwood
Hedge.
In all cases, the report lists Pacific Steel as the main
offender. By this calculation, because of Pacific Steel, much of
Berkeley is classified as an air polluted zone, and pretty dangerous
for children.
Or is it?
One further question: now that
USA Today has done the story, what responsibility does it have to
further explain its findings, and the disparities I have noted?
To
me, responsible journalism suggests that it does in fact owe its
readers — which because of the Internet now includes communities
surrounding all 127,800 schools — further explanations and
clarifications.
Like most investigative reports, the story is written in a way that is intended to raise anxieties. Here's one anxiety provoking headline: "The exposure to toxic chemicals in the air outside some schools appears so high that students could be at risk of suffering a range of ailments, from asthma to cancer."
That's scary stuff. I'm just not convinced it applies to one neighborhood that USA Today says is among the absolute worst in the United States — my neighborhood.
LOUIS FREEDBERG
