Greeley Parents Concerned After Benzene Detected In Air Near Bella Romero Academy
GREELEY (CBS4) -- There is something in the air around the Bella Romero Academy 4th-8th grade campus in Greeley that is causing concern. It's benzene.
This area is filled with oil and gas facilities. Now the state health department has found levels of the chemical compound benzene, during one 45-minute period in November, above federal guidelines.
That led Patricia Nelson, who has family members at the school, to fire off a letter to Gov. Jared Polis.
"Basically asking them to shut down these operations until they can prevent any future carcinogen exposure to our children," she said.
She has led protests here before over the proximity of the oil and gas facilities, but the Benzene levels now detected around the school pose no health risk according to the state. Still, parents worry.
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"How do they fix it and take care of it and get it away from the school?" one mother asked.
An oil production facility is just 1,200 feet from this school. The operator Extraction Oil and Gas insists it is not the source of the benzene and its sensors would shut down the wells. It says the level of benzene detected in November is far less than one would be exposed to at a gas station. Benzene can cause cancer if one is exposed to high levels over long periods of time.
The oil and gas industry is the economic engine of Weld County. It provides jobs and income.
But another mother picking up her children insisted health is more important, "I guess you have to go with 'safety first,' for sure."
The school district has told parents the state monitoring is continuing and will advise if any other levels above federal guidelines are discovered.