By the Santa Barbara Unified School District
The environmental assessment investigation at Dos Pueblos is now completed, and no health concerns were found.
Geoyntec collected indoor air samples from classrooms and offices and outdoor air samples from various parts of the campus during the winter break in December as part of the environmental assessment.
Researchers gathered soil samples from the interior of the campus and surrounding school property.
Geosyntec also tested for electromagnetic fields and radon throughout the campus. Once all of the samples were collected, they were sent to laboratories to be tested, and the results were delivered to District officials.
The final results confirmed the preliminary analysis in February by Santa Barbara County Public Health that showed the campus was safe.
In addition, the California Cancer Registry said it could not find a common link or cluster of cases among the cancer staff report.
“We thank Geosyntec, Santa Barbara County Public Health, and the California Cancer Registry for their assistance in this health assessment. Thankfully, the health assessment found nothing alarming on the Dos Pueblos campus. We care about our employees and will always keep their safety and the safety of our students as a top priority,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, Superintendent.
Geosytnec staff met with DP staff members Tuesday to review the report and answer questions.
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December 16, 2022:
Great news all around. I’m only sorry the folks with cancer do not have an answer.
Maybe driving past all that ag land every day. Of course there will be a cluster result shown at the school, but it would be easy to miss if you aren’t looking for causes a few plots over.
Can’t even count the number of times it smelled funny when driving through there, plus they burn the fields when time to replant. I’ve seen them dosing pesticides, and who knows what the nutrient regime looks like.
Things like, for instance, glyphosate. Does anyone know if the citrus grow or the other farms around there test as organic?
Further, winter break would be a very convenient time to miss pesticides in an air quality test.