Unanimous vote allows school district to acquire hard data on ethylene oxide emissions, in effort to protect health and safety of students and staff

LAREDO, TX - On Wednesday evening, United Independent School District (UISD) trustees took the historic step of approving air monitoring to detect ethylene oxide (EtO) at school campuses, making UISD the first South Texas entity to take this extraordinary measure to ensure the health and safety of its children and staff. Trustees agreed to start with one campus and build from there. 

Several UISD trustees stand with members of the Clean Air Laredo Coalition after unanimous Wednesday vote. (L-R: Trustee Javier Montemayor, Victor Treviño Jr., Ethel Perez, Edna Jimenez, Melissa R. Cigarroa, Sheila Serna, Bobby Santos, Trustee Frank Castillo, Salo Otero, JoAnn Piland-Otero, Trustee Aliza Flores, Tricia Cortez).

The UISD vote took place after a presentation by members of the Clean Air Laredo Coalition and Rio Grande International Study Center (RGISC). 

Trustee Frank Castillo, who represents District 7 and is a Coalition member, said that he co-sponsored and voted for the item because “it’s important that we try to ensure that our children and staff are healthy and safe, particularly when attending school.”

UISD Trustee Aliza Oliveros, who represents District 3 and is also a Coalition member, agreed. “As one of the essential stakeholders in this battle against pollution, we are more than willing to take a leadership role to protect the safety and well-being of our children and staff,” Oliveros said.

Victor Treviño Jr., attorney and Coalition member, urged trustees to approve the item and pointed out extreme racial disparities in communities like Laredo that are carrying the burden of significant air pollution and elevated cancer risks from industry.

“Knowing that our community is medically underserved, the duty to protect our families from harmful pollution falls on us,” Treviño said. “It should be a basic human right to have clean air. I commend the UISD Board for their leadership in what I believe to be one of the first ethylene oxide surveillance programs of this type along the border.”

UISD trustees agreed to begin the air monitoring process with Muller Elementary, the campus most impacted by its proximity to Midwest Sterilization Corp. The Missouri-based company has continued to emit thousands of pounds of the highly carcinogenic toxin into the Laredo air annually. Muller Elementary ranks in the top 1% for air toxicity among all schools in the United States, according to an air toxics study by the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

 Ethel Perez, Salo Otero and Jo Ann Piland-Otero, Coalition members and residents of the impacted La Bota Ranch nighborhood, attended the meeting and “applauded” the proactive measure taken by trustees.

“This support and leadership is a beautiful example of true public service for the most vulnerable: our children.” Piland-Otero said. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has come under increasing pressure from community groups in Laredo and in other states to quickly pass stricter rules to reduce EtO emissions. They will hold a community-wide meeting in Laredo to discuss elevated cancer risks on Sept. 15. 

At the request of the City of Laredo, the state’s health agency completed a cancer occurrence study in Laredo in three census tracts closest to Midwest for four specific cancers and found elevated levels of non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and agreed to continue the study in the next three census tracts. 

Sheila Serna, RGISC Climate Science and Policy Director, said last night’s vote by the school district is “a step in the right direction. UISD is taking the health of their children as a priority. Now we need the commitment of the city and county. Together, we can find a critical solution to this public health problem in Laredo.”

Serna has reached out to Midwest executives in Missouri to discuss potential solutions. Company officials have not responded to her requests for a meeting.

Midwest opened its Laredo plant in 2005 and has become one of the top industrial air polluters in the U.S. It has emitted nearly 200,000 pounds of EtO into the Laredo air, according to  self-reported company data from 2005 to 2020. Both of its plants - Laredo, TX and Jackson, MO - made the EPA’s list of 23 high priority sterilizer facilities earlier this month. 

EtO is a mutagenic DNA-damaging chemical. Long-term exposure has been linked to an increased risk of cancer of the white blood cells like non-Hodgkin lymphoma, lymphocytic leukemia, and myeloma as well as breast cancer. A 2016 EPA report found that ethylene oxide is 60 times more toxic to children and 30 times more toxic to adults than previously estimated. 

Photo caption: Several UISD trustees stand with members of the Clean Air Laredo Coalition after unanimous Wednesday vote. (L-R: Trustee Javier Montemayor, Victor Treviño Jr., Ethel Perez, Edna Jimenez, Melissa R. Cigarroa, Sheila Serna, Bobby Santos, Trustee Frank Castillo, Salo Otero, JoAnn Piland-Otero, Trustee Aliza Flores, Tricia Cortez).