Officials are disputing a report that the air quality outside La-Grange schools appears to be among the worst in the nation because of industrial pollution.

A USA Today study used the government’s latest model for tracking toxic chemicals. The newspaper ranked 127,800 schools in “toxic hot” spots across the country based on 2005 emission reports to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

According to the model, only 188 of the 127,800 schools had worse air than Whitesville Road Elementary School and 203 had worse air than Berta Weathersbee Elementary on Forrest Avenue. Other schools in LaGrange didn’t rank much better.

Children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollutants, but the USA Today rankings “should not be taken as definitive,” said EPA spokeswoman Catherine C. Milbourn. “Much more needs to be known to confidently assess the risks from toxic air pollutants at any given location.”

The EPA model “is not the right tool to determine the quality of the air outside of U.S. schools,” she said. It “was designed to be the first step in a multistep process to determine if potentially toxic emissions are released into the environment. … Additional data and analysis would be necessary before an accurate assessment could be made.”

Milbourn said the EPA “has made tremendous strides in improving air quality in the U.S. over the past 25 years and we continue to be proactive in developing more stringent regulations, working in partnership with state and local governments to reduce air toxics, and awarding grants to local communities to address specific air issues.”

Between 1980 and 2007, total emissions of the six principal air pollutants dropped by 52 percent, she said.

“There’s no cause to panic right now,” said Hayla Hall, a spokeswoman for the Troup County Health Department, which is part of District 4 Health Services. “I wouldn’t be alarmed at the survey that was in USA Today.”

Hall said the health department is working with the state Environmental Protection Division’s outdoor air quality monitoring program to get more information about what health risks local industries pose for the whole community.

The study cited Duracell, Interface, Federal-Mogul, Guardian Automotive and Henkel Consumer Adhesives as most responsible for toxics outside Berta Weathersbee, but Federal-Mogul closed a few years ago and Guardian is scheduled to close at the end of this month. The study substituted Atlas Roofing for Henkel in regard to Whitesville Road Elementary.

“The air emissions data used by the USA Today study for InterfaceFLOR is not accurate,” said Wendy Porter, the company’s director of environmental management.

She said it was based on information from Interface’s raw-material supplier, but the correct data is 1,000 times lower.

“We learned earlier this year that the information provided by the supplier was not correct and resulted in a dramatic overestimation of emissions,” she said. “We recently submitted to EPA revisions lowering the emissions estimates for the prior years, but this information is not yet available to the general public.

“In sum, we are confident that InterfaceFLOR is not contributing to any air-quality issues in the LaGrange schools.

Duracell spokesman Kurt Iverson said his company is no threat to public health either. He said Duracell has revised its air-quality testing since the 2005 emission reports, adding, “The old numbers were based on engineering estimates rather than actual tests. Our recent actual testing is much more accurate than the old figures.”

“We also plan to reach out to the school leadership to make sure they have the latest data,” Iverson said. “… We are working with USA Today to at least annotate their reporting page to let the public know that there is more current information available.”

After becoming aware of the newspaper study, Troup County Schools Superintendent Ed Smith and Assistant Superintendent Bill Parsons began conversations with District 4 Health Services and the EPA.

“Even though the article was presented in the context of schools, the study analyzed outdoor air quality, making the findings an issue for consideration communitywide,” said school system spokeswoman Catherine Holmes, and “we will continue to investigate the details of the study and assess our local situation.”

Parsons noted that the school system has an aggressive program to ensure good indoor air quality, and uses a machine to assess potential contamination. When a room was found to have an issue with air quality during summer inspections, he said, “we removed all of the carpet in that room, sealed the floor, installed new carpet, repainted the walls and replaced all ceiling tiles.”

He said the schools’ “Operation Green” program includes: replacing all room air filters at least four times a year; thorough cleaning and sanitizing of all equipment and coils associated with heating and air-conditioning units; buying hallway sweepers that have a two-stage filtering system; using lifts in gyms and auditoriums to remove dust and dirt accumulations in all high areas; and a variety of other measures.

“It is worth noting that the two schools highlighted in the report have an absentee rate below or equal to the system average for the past two-week period,” Parsons said.

He said rate at Whitesville Road Elementary matched the system average of 4.2 percent, while Berta Weathersbee’s was 3.8 percent.

“An extensive safety training program for all staff has promoted the emphasis on keeping all exterior doors closed to maximize safety and maintain indoor air quality,” Parsons said.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@ lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.