HAYDEN ASSAILS LAUSD; DISTRICT BACKSLIDING ON TOXICITY, HE SAYS.

Byline: Terri Hardy Sacramento Bureau

State Sen. Tom Hayden accused the Los Angeles Unified School District on Friday of trying to weaken state oversight of toxic contamination at campuses and retreating from a promise to rigorously deal with environmental problems.

Hayden, D-Los Angeles, issued a letter to LAUSD Superintendent Ruben Zacarias, charging that ``hard-liners'' in the district are lobbying to limit state authority over school environmental cleanup.

Hayden also said the district hired attorneys to weaken proposed legislation by creating a loophole that would allow the LAUSD not to report oil contaminants and limit the state's ability to ensure that a campus is safe.

Further, Hayden said that it appeared that the LAUSD, which has been found to have approved a number of contaminated school sites including the Belmont Learning Complex, was retreating from its promises to turn over toxic cleanup and monitoring responsibilities to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Hayden, chairman of the senate Natural Resources Committee, wrote that ``the situation is so grave'' with the LAUSD that he will call a hearing of the committee in Los Angeles on May 21.

LAUSD spokesman Erik Nasarenko said there has been no change in the district's policy.

``The superintendent is fully committed that the state should review and certify sites contemplated for new schools,'' Nasarenko said.

Hayden acknowledged in his letter to Zacarias that in recent months the district made progress toward hammering out an agreement to divest itself of its toxic cleanup and monitoring role, to transfer that task to the state's DTSC agency. He also cited the district's agreement in principle to push for health standards for children.

But, the lawmaker said, the agreements were ``unraveling'' and ``bureaucratic trench warfare'' had begun.

The Daily News has reported that the LAUSD blames the state's DTSC for construction delays at two primary centers in the San Fernando Valley.

Hayden also complained that the school district hired a law firm to draft amendments to Senate Bill 162, a bill dealing with toxic reporting requirements.

The district has contracted with McClintock and Weston, a law firm whose clients include the Western States Petroleum Association, to develop amendments to ``exempt petroleum industry contaminants at a school site from being reportable to the DTSC, a narrowing of the definition of potential hazards to children and a limitation on the DTSC's ability to regulate and assure that a site is actually safe for children,'' Hayden wrote.

Nasarenko said lawyers were hired to help the district minimize claims associated with construction delays.

He said initial amendments drafted within the district's legal team would be changed and announced Monday at a hearing of the senate Environmental Quality Committee.

Nasarenko said those amendments ``reflected one position of the district but not the entire position of the district.''