Excel High School

High school students from West Oakland and San Francisco are joining forces to raise awareness about air pollution in a West Oakland residential neighborhood. “Environmental concerns about the Port of Oakland and highways in Oakland have overshadowed other, and at least equally disturbing, local environmental issues that should also demand our attention. We want to raise awareness about one serious case of pollution that we can better manage,” says David Joseph-Goteiner, a junior at Lick-Wilmerding High School. Joseph-Goteiner and several students from EXCEL High School are organizing an event on March 20th from 5-8:30PM to educate and inspire the Bay Area to take action on the issue of air pollution.

Custom Alloy Scrap Sales (CASS), a scrap yard and manufacturer of aluminum ingots and aluminum alloys, stands three blocks from EXCEL High School, from a local recreational center and from a playground, as well as in the midst of a residential neighborhood. Last year, students from EXCEL High School, in cooperation with Global Community Monitor and the Rose Foundation for Communities and The Environment, tested the air quality in the neighborhood surrounding CASS and found levels of metals (specifically lead) that far surpassed EPA standards (http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?id=720).

Students from Lick-Wilmerding High School in San Francisco and students from EXCEL High School are organizing an event to raise public awareness and donations to contribute to the community effort to monitor the air quality around CASS. The event on March 20th from 5-8:30, at Excel High School (2607 Myrtle St.) will be both an art auction to raise money and an opportunity to get involved in the issue.

The suggested donation is $3 to $20, but no one will be turned away. There will be a shuttle service from the West Oakland BART station, as well as space for 100 cars in the EXCEL parking lot.