McClymonds High School emergency closure to last through March 9

OAKLAND, Calif. (KTVU) - Chemical contamination that has already closed an Oakland school is causing concern for the entire neighborhood. 

More than 100 people jammed a town hall meeting in West Oakland Wednesday evening. 

"For you in the audience, it's not just about the school, it's about the community," said Cheryl Prowell of the Ca. Dept. of Toxic Substances Control.

Prowell tried to reassure the crowd that tests done at McClymonds High School for the carcinogen TCE are promising so far. 

Trichloroethylene was found in groundwater under campus but the source appears to be off-campus. 

Prowell said the concentration merits investigation but isn't high enough to be harmful.     

"And there's no detection of TCE in the air that students have been breathing and no indication of risk," explained Prowell.

But many who packed the West Oakland Senior Center were skeptical, noting that the community has long struggled with the presence of toxins waiting for cleanup. 

Maps show the area riddled with underground storage tanks, some leaking, some secure, and others removed but leaving contamination.      

Used for various industrial purposes, there are several tanks in the vicinity of McClymonds High. 

The solvent TCE was found by happenstance on campus.

Tests were being done on the site of an old petroleum tank removed in the 1990s.

It had been used to fuel a boiler to warm the school swimming pool. 

Petroleum residue was not found, but TCE was.

That triggered an abrupt shutdown last Thursday to determine why. 

"We want our McClymonds community back in their home as soon as possible," said Oakland school superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell. 

"But the bottom line is we cannot go back until it is safe."

Wednesday evening's school board meeting began with an update on the situation.

350 students have been split by grade level and sent to other campus locations this week.

"Is there anything additionally that would calm family fears around having been at the school?" wondered board member Roseann Torres. 

Another round of analysis is now underway, testing for vapors at about 200 sites on campus. 

Those results will not be available until Monday, March 9, so the earliest students could get the all-clear to return would be sometime that week. 

A student representative to the board questioned why neighborhood contamination has lingered for so long. 

"It was ignored and I see this as environmental racism because it's happening to our black kids and it shouldn't be happening," said Denilson Garibo, to applause. 

It's a view shared by many, including City Councilmember Lynette Gibson McElhaney, who organized the community Town Hall. 

"We're here today and we want to see what we can do going forward to be accountable and heal some injury of the past," said Gibson McElhaney.

Although many of the businesses that created toxic exposure are gone now, she and other elected leaders are calling for a concerted multi-agency effort to finally eradicate the hazard.  

"We have to start right now, taking protective measures for people's health," said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf. 

Schaaf told the audience the problem is not simply one chemical or one site but a pervasive history of pollution and neglect. 

"We are going to start with air quality filters, and we are going to start that right now," added Schaaf, promising to provide filters at schools, daycare facilities and other sensitive locations, and expand availability from there.