Midwest School awaits answers about gas leak as students move to Casper

As the weeks passed, local residents worried about everything from poisonous hydrogen sulfide to contaminated water. Many of those fears were eased when the well was plugged and air samples began to improve, but the wait for serious events continues.

More than 100 Midwest students will be bused to Casper starting next week, with middle schoolers housed at the new Pathways Innovation Center campus and younger kids using the old Westwood Elementary building. It is a temporary solution until the school is reoccupied. To be safe, that won't happen until a federal toxicology report is issued, expensive air-cleaning measures are installed and additional air quality testing is done, officials said.

One thing all parties are anxious to see is a report from a federal health agency detailing which VOCs were found at the school and in what concentration. The Casper-Natrona County Health Department enlisted the help of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to interpret air quality samples.

The school's most recent air quality sampling, taken in mid-June, met federal indoor air quality standards. The contents of those samples, and those taken in May, are expected to be made public once the agency clears the report.

In addition, people await the details of the report on the relative health risks of short-term and long-term exposure to the identified compounds.

“The issue is in interpreting the human health risk for different populations of people (adults versus children for example) based on these VOCs and their concentrations and the time that different people spend in the building,” said Kelly Weidenbach, executive director of the Casper-Natrona County Health Department. “We don't want to reveal details until we can answer basic questions about the risk to human health, both acute and long-term. We lack that expertise at the local and state level, so we asked for technical assistance at the federal level.”

The state is also busy interpreting the health data, which comes from a survey of 139 Midwest residents. These results will also be made public.

Concerns about the immediate health impact of exposure have subsided somewhat, with assurances from health departments that serious health risks are likely to be minimal.

But immediately after the leak, many were worried. Some Midwest residents have reported ailments such as restlessness, lack of appetite and headaches over the past year.

In 2014, the school's kitchen staff complained of headaches and dizziness. A district investigation concluded the symptoms were likely caused by a malfunctioning furnace hood or improperly stored cleaning chemicals, according to documents requested by the Star-Tribune.

School officials said in an interview in June that there was no connection between the 2014 incident and the leak.

For the foreseeable future, students will have to deal with learning in different buildings, 40 miles from home. This semester will also be the first in the Midwest to have a four-day school week. Fridays are reserved for additional teaching and coaching.

“I think right now our parents and our students are a little worried,” Principal Chris Tobin said of the move to Casper.

For the most part, that transition has been smooth, he said. The Pathways Center is in its first year of operation and is at capacity, allowing Midwest full use of four classrooms, as well as access to a brand new computer lab, gym and aerobics center. In addition, the entire junior class and four seniors from Midwest are also enrolled in Pathways and would already travel to Casper in half-day blocks Monday through Friday.

Administrators in Casper have embraced their temporarily homeless neighbor, Tobin said.

But the slow release of facts and details has been difficult for children, teachers and families.

Midwest is a small community school and many of the students have brothers or sisters in other grades. For some of the children, this will be the first time they attend school in a different building than their older siblings, Tobin said.

“The longer we're out there, I think the more questions are raised,” he said. “When people don't know the answer to their questions, they start formulating their own answers. This is based on fear and the unknown.”

Personnel in the Midwest first noticed a gas-like odor on May 25. Part of the building was closed, and the district and local utility determined there was no gas leak.

In the days that followed, operators located a leaking oil well next to the school.

The well was one of several in the area that have been plugged or abandoned over the last century.

The Salt Creek Oil field, a productive patch of thousands of wells in and around the Midwest, has been on tap since the late 1800s. It is now operated by FDL Energy.

There are 120 permanently abandoned wells on the 640-acre property surrounding the school building, according to state records.

Once operators closed the leaking well, FDL continued to work with the health departments and the school district, proposing a vapor extraction system to clean the air around the building.

“They have one installed right now, but it's all above ground,” said Dennis Bay, director of operations for the district. “Their proposal is to have the vapor extraction system around the school, under the school, underground. Then it's like a huge void.”

The district will likely have to pay for that, along with the cost of a new employee – a certified industrial hygienist.

The local health department recommended the school install 24-7 indoor air monitoring, a low-cost improvement to the mid-1950s school building, Bay said.

They will do further testing after mediation to determine if the cleanup efforts were successful, Weidenbach said.

Tobin, the Midwest manager, takes things one semester at a time. There is a small chance her school will reopen in the spring, as the field operator's work should be completed by the end of 2016, she said.

Still, the waiting game gets on your nerves, he said.

“I would say the biggest problem for myself is that I don't have the answers that we need,” Tobin said. “I am confident based on what we have learned from federal agencies that our students and staff were at minimal health risk. What I want to know is when are we going to get back there, and that's not an answer that anyone has.”