America Unites For Kids (formerly Malibu Unites) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) have filed a lawsuit against the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District regarding their handling of PCBs at Malibu High School, sources confirm.
State law requires an announcement of future litigation followed by 60 days to allow for mediation with the idea that the suit may be found unnecessary. The lawsuit, which was nearing the end of its 60 day notice period, was filed today, according to America Unites for Kids founder Jennifer deNicola.
There was some speculation as to whether the groups would go through with the case, which they first threatened in August 2014, but in January deNicola expressed confidence that if demands weren’t met, the SMMUSD would be served.
“We intend to file a lawsuit if the district does not test the caulking in all classrooms in buildings built before 1979 and remove all PCBs over 50 parts per million, in compliance with federal law, because students and staff have a right to be in a safe environment,” deNicola said in January.
Since high PCB levels at Malibu High School came to light in October of 2013, a heated debate has erupted as to the safest way to proceed with testing and cleanup.
PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were a common building material in the mid-20th century, but were later discovered to be hazardous substances and were broadly banned.
The issue was addressed for the first time on a school board agenda on Thursday, March 19, at which time the environmental consulting company Environ presented findings and options for remediation to the SMMUSD board.
A version of this story originally appeared in the Malibu Times.
editor@www.smdp.com
Maybe we should focus on the chem trails that are poisoning our children’s air and the chlorine and fluoride that are poisoning our children’s water and the gmo’s that are poisoning our children’s land.
Environ’s PCB Caulking Tests Reveal Shockingly High Results
New test results posted by the Santa Monica-Malibu school district (SMMUSD) show nine classrooms and other facilities containing toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in concentrations up to 11,000 times above federal safety limits. The revelation came a day after America Unites for Kids and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) sued the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District for violating the federal Toxic Substances Control Act by refusing to remove PCBs over 50ppm.
The new test results prepared by the district’s own consultant showed PCB levels ranging from 330 parts-per-million to 570,000 ppm, meaning that over 50% of the caulk sample was pure PCB, a cancer-causing, banned chemical. By contrast, the federal safety limit is just 50 ppm. Despite these extremely high levels of a highly toxic chemical banned by Congress, all of these rooms are still in use by students and teachers of the combined elementary, middle and high school campuses. Elementary school special needs students are occupying a classroom tested at 470,000 ppm.
The troubling nature of these ultra-high results is compounded by the manner of their release –
· Nine months ago, America Unites and PEER had arranged independent testing of the caulking in these same rooms showing similar high levels. The district ignored these findings and only tested these rooms after the groups filed their Notice of Intent to Sue – and their own findings were much higher than the independent samples. Despite this verification, the district still opposes school-wide testing of the caulking;
· At the school board meeting on March 19, 2015, the district’s own consultant, Douglas Daugherty of Environ, contended that independent tests could not be verified. In fact at that time, the consultant already had in his possession, test results reflecting PCB concentrations that were significantly higher; and
· On March 20th, 2015 America Unites for Kids and PEER demanded that any testing done be immediately released to the public. On Monday, March 23rd, after the Federal lawsuit was filed, the district posted these test results on their website buried in a table within a 200 plus page document.
“What school district officials have done is monstrous – they are deliberately keeping students and teachers in highly toxic classrooms with no precautions to prevent direct contact with PCBs,” stated PEER Senior Counsel Paula Dinerstein. “These results are the smoking gun evidence, from its own gun, that the district is in flagrant violation of the Toxic Substances Control Act.”
The Malibu schools have been roiled by this issue since October 2013, when a group of teachers jointly expressed concern about health effects, ranging from thyroid cancer to migraines, from toxic contamination on campus. In the ensuing months, the district has opposed wider testing and/or removal of contaminants, despite spending significant sums on lawyers and consultants.
“I am stunned that district officials and their consultants stood in front of us on Thursday evening and did not disclose these extraordinarily high test results!” said Jennifer deNicola, President of America Unites for Kids. “This illustrates to all of us that the district is going to stop at nothing, including withholding evidence, to defend their indefensible position to leave illegal levels of PCBs in the schools which put students and teachers in harm’s way.”
Superintendent Sandra Lyon must resign!
There are many other troubling issues with the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.
Santa Monica Dispatch Article Concerning Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Retaliatory Acts Against Students and Parents by Filing False Claims of Child Abuse with the
Department of Children & Family Services
For details of this other pending lawsuit go to:
https://lawofficesofbarryfagan.wordpress.com/2014/08/25/santa-monica-dispatch-article-concerning-smmusds-retaliatory-acts-against-students-and-parents-by-filing-false-claims-of-child-abuse-with-the-department-of-children-family-services/