Children are breathing dangerous levels of pollution at schools across the South

This week USA Today is publishing the results of its groundbreaking special investigation into toxic air pollution around the nation's schools -- and many of the facilities that present a serious danger to students and staff are in the South.

The newspaper used an Environmental Protection Agency model to track the path of industrial pollution near almost 128,000 schools nationwide, identifying locations where toxic exposures appeared particularly high. It then took air samples near 95 schools, finding 64 where students were being exposure to dangerously elevated levels of toxins.

None of the seven schools with the very highest levels of toxic exposures as identified by USA Today were in the South. But many of the other 57 schools where monitoring showed levels of chemicals that could lead to health risks higher than what some states consider acceptable are in the region. In alphabetical order by state, they are:

Louisiana has more schools where students are exposed to toxic air than any other Southern state. The area in Louisiana with the most schools at risk is near the Exxon Mobil Refinery, Exxon Mobil Chemical Plant, Honeywell and Rhodia facilities in Baton Rouge, where the Louisiana Environmental Action Network has been working with pollution-impacted communities.

"Community members in these areas have long complained of the health impacts associated with operations occurring at these facilities," said LEAN Executive Director Marylee Orr. "We have always been concerned about what impact these toxic releases have on the communities located so close to these facilities, and we have repeatedly asked [the state Department of Environmental Quality] to increase its air monitoring. This report just reinforces our concerns."

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) -- chair of the Environment and Public Works Committee that oversees the EPA -- yesterday called the USA Today report "a shocking story of child neglect." She vowed to take steps to ensure the government monitors the air outside the nation's schools and to focus on the issue of children and toxics during confirmation hearings for President-elect Barack Obama's EPA nominee.

Though children are particularly susceptible to the effects of toxic chemicals, the EPA and state environmental agencies typically have not monitored the air outside schools -- even schools in known pollution hot spots.

(Photo of Istrouma High School in Louisiana's East Baton Rouge School District by nsub1)