Colorado parents, school officials relieved that expansion of oil storage facility near school is canceled

School officials are celebrating the cancellation of a plan to expand a storage facility that parents and teachers say is toxic to students at a nearby school.

Karla Loría, the superintendent of Adams School District 14, who is located near many oil and gas production facilitiesclaims pollution is affecting his students’ education.

“As an educator, I know the impact that a toxic environment for our students has on their performance,” Loría said. “We often have students with nosebleeds for no reason. We have a high rate of asthma among our students, we have students who come in with headaches. We have a high rate of chronic absenteeism, which means students are absent 18 days or more during a school year.”

So when she learned there was a plan to expand a warehouse across from Dupont Elementary School in Commerce City, she felt she had to do something.

“Adding more reservoirs would only exacerbate this toxicity in our community,” Loría said.

She partnered with community organizers Cultivando to prepare the community to fight the plan, but last week they got a surprise.

Magellan Pipeline Company has withdrawn its application for an air permit for a proposed five-tank expansion, saying the proposed tanks are no longer needed.

Loría says it was a nice surprise, but she says that despite this victory, she will continue to fight for environmental justice for her students.

“We are still suffering from huge amounts of toxins,” Loría said. “We have 20 reservoirs that release more than 300 tons of toxins into the air every year.”

But she says it is important for the wider community to see that the weakest can win.

“For communities advocating for environmental justice, it is sometimes difficult to see these victories and we are thrilled because this was a way for our community to see that their voices matter,” Loría said.

Oneok, Magellan’s parent company, says it will continue to meet its customers’ needs with existing infrastructure and looks forward to working with stakeholders in the future.