For years, school district officials have had grand designs to revitalize the campus of McKinley Elementary in Santa Monica.
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District intended to build a two-story building with eight state-of-the-art classrooms and a modern front office. The project was already funded by a previous bond measure and a glowing presentation was publicized by district staff.
However, last year, a district-appointed inspector discovered dangerous levels of toxic vapors leaking into the soil of the proposed construction site, a parking lot at the northeast end of the campus. Since then, state regulators have concluded that contaminants from a dry cleaner across the street may have leached underground.
Although these hazardous fumes were not found to exceed state health limits inside school buildings, regulators determined that the pollution could pose a threat to public health if the ground was disturbed or new construction was built on top.
Pollution has complicated renewal plans for the district, which will require new safety measures and soil reclamation. Meanwhile, the state has approached TJ Cleaners to clean its property to prevent the spread of pollution.
But the site is just one of more than 8,600 active and former dry cleaning facilities across California, an industry that leaves contamination at 75% of its sites, according to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control. The most notable contaminant, perchlorethylene (PCE), is a cleaning solvent that has been linked to several types of cancer.
After decades of use as a dirt and stain removing agent, California banned the use of PCE in dry cleaners in 2023. But historically, according to state officials, it was common to dump these chemicals in the back of a business or flush them down the toilet.
Decades of improper disposal and leaking storage tanks have caused plumes of PCE and other pollutants to leach into groundwater and soil, where they can travel great distances and reemerge as harmful vapors.
“You could see people filling up buckets and throwing them out,” said Jane Williams, executive director of California Communities Against Toxics. “So basically – what would now be considered – there were all kinds of illegal disposals. Almost every historic dry cleaner may have some type of contamination.
In 2021, state lawmakers dedicated $152.5 million to the Department of Toxic Substances Control Check out dry-cleaning facilities and discover these underground piles of pollution, So far, the state has trained more than 100 dry cleaners statewide, including more than 70 in Los Angeles County.
More than two years later, the findings and enforcement resulting from the state program remain unclear. The state poison department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
But environmental advocates say the state’s testing and cleanup protocols are inadequate. They argue that state regulators rarely agree to test properties around contaminated dry-cleaning facilities to determine the risk to nearby homes, schools and businesses.
In the Lincoln Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, residents have long expressed concern about the former site of the Welch’s Uniform facility, which was once advertised as America’s largest industrial dry cleaner. Although the site closed in 1988 and underwent some remediation, PCE levels there remain so high The state and the owner recently signed an agreement that it will not be redeveloped for housing, daycare or a hospital.,
Given the extent of the contamination, community members have been petitioning the state for years to test neighboring properties, including Hillside Elementary and A. Former industrial site that is being redeveloped into apartments, The proposed apartment complex – a former toxic waste dump – also had elevated levels of PCE.
“This contamination from dry cleaning fluids is potentially much deeper, longer-term and widespread than what this investigation will establish,” said Michael Hayden, president of the Lincoln Heights Community Coalition.
Plans to expand McKinley Elementary School have been delayed, and costs are likely to increase.
(Wally Scalise/Los Angeles)
In Santa Monica, soil contamination at McKinley Elementary was discovered during state-mandated environmental testing that occurs before construction that requires excavation of soil.
The highest measurement of PCE in soil was about 2,600 parts per cubic meter, which is 10 times higher than state border, Other toxic chemicals, including benzene and trichloroethylene, also exceeded state health standards in the soil.
State officials say the contamination likely originated from TJ Cleaners, a dry cleaner that has been in operation since 1991.
The state has called in TJ Cleaners to clean its property under state supervision. Albert Masangkay, owner of TJ Cleaners, said he was not aware of the contamination and that his lawyers were reviewing a letter from the Toxic Substances Agency. He said dry cleaning is done off site.
It’s unclear whether the state will ask for soil or groundwater testing at homes and businesses near the site.
Gail Pinsker, spokeswoman for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, said the school district still intends to construct the new building starting this summer. It plans to install an underground barrier to prevent smoke from entering the building. It will also install vapor extraction equipment to remove the presence of chemicals at the site.
According to district officials, these measures could push the school district over its initial construction budget.
“We have worked closely with DTSC on this project and look forward to continuing construction as quickly as possible so we can maintain our interest in opening this new classroom and administration building,” Pinsker said in an email. “We appreciate the community support the bond measures provide for school modernization projects and note that construction delays may require additional funding beyond the budget estimate to complete this project.”
Still, perhaps the bigger question is: How long will it take to completely rid school grounds of this pollution?
“It could be as short and sweet as six months,” Williams said. “Or it could take years.”
