Board OKs State (DTSC) Oversight of Malibu High Cleanup

Board OKs State (DTSC) Oversight of Malibu High Cleanup
Post Date February 13, 2014
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Dept. of Toxic Substances Control will oversee Malibu High/Juan Cabrillo investigation and cleanup.

By Knowles Adkisson and Melissa Caskey / The Malibu Times |

The school district board of education on Thursday approved a $40,000 contract for the California Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to oversee an ongoing environmental investigation at Malibu High School, after the discovery of cancer-causing contaminants on campus triggered the involvement of state and federal authorities.

The DTSC will give written commentary to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s environmental consultant, Environ, as it performs testing and cleanup at both Malibu High and adjacent Juan Cabrillo Elementary School.

While the contract is called a “voluntary investigation agreement,” district CFO Jan Maez said Tuesday that retaining DTSC “wasn’t our choice” after the discovery of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) at five locations at Malibu High last year.

“This was not something we had the option for,” Maez said.

According to Maez, the state agency will ensure the work of Environ meets state standards for public outreach, removal of contaminants and other measures.

“DTSC’s role in this is to make sure what the district’s being advised to do are appropriate measures,” Maez said.

Meanwhile, both members of the school board and the Malibu community expressed initial befuddlement about the new contract.

The contract with Environ, a private firm contracted by the district last month to handle soil and air testing at the campus, has not been finalized and the firm has yet to put together a cleanup plan or cost estimate for its services.

Jennifer Denicola, one of the High environmental task force, said the agreement failed to make mention of the DTSC’s specific plans at Malibu High or Juan Cabrillo Elementary. parents who serves on a Malibu

“I would like to see [the DTSC’s] plan and how they are going to work with Environ to test the soil for all contaminants and the classrooms for contaminants other than PCBs,” Denicola told The Malibu Times.

Boardmembers Oscar de la Torre and Laurie Lieberman also expressed skepticism with the contract in response to questions raised by Denicola at last Thursday’s board meeting, with Lieberman stating the contract “makes everybody uneasy, with good reason.”

But Tuesday, Lieberman said it was too soon to expect specifics on the level of DTSC’s involvement.

“This is the standard agreement that [the DTSC] use…I just don’t think there’s any way out at this point since no one has decided what’s going to be tested or where it’s going to be tested,” Lieberman said Tuesday. “I think that’s why it is a little vague. The reality will get nailed down as we move forward.”

Once Environ has completed its testing, the district is required to submit the findings to the DTSC for review.

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has retained the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to oversee its consultant, Environ, as it tests and removes potential contaminants at Malibu High School and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School.

Dept. of Toxic Substances Control’s role in Malibu High cleanup 

Here are DTSC’s responsibilities, as laid out in the contract’s scope of work:

1) DTSC will coordinate and attend meetings with both consultants and community stakeholders, coordinate with other regulatory agencies that may be involved, issue fact sheets and notices, and insure that project information is available online to the public.

2) Review plans to remove the contaminants and propose any additional work or areas of additional concern, if needed. Following an initial review, a scoping meeting will be held to discuss whether further tests are necessary.

3) Ensure that Environ is following state guidelines in conducting a Preliminary Environmental Assessment (PEA), to determine whether removing substances at the site poses a threat to human health or the environment.

4) Review and comment on plans for public participation to be made by Environ, which are to include a scoping meeting to make sure interested public and community are involved in the DTSC’s decision-making process. Environ must also prepare a community profile to determine the community’s knowledge of the site; types of community concerns; prepare a community mailing list; and proximity of the site to homes, churches and daycares, among other factors.

5) Review and approve fact sheets to be submitted by Environ to be submitted to a community mailing list.

6) Review and approve a Health and Safety plan by Environ to cover measures to be taken during testing and remediation to protect the health and safety of workers at the site as well as the general public from exposure to hazardous waste, substances or materials. The plan should “describe specific personnel, procedures and equipment to be utilized.”

http://www.malibutimes.com/news/article_4d5301e8-9410-11e3-aa78-0019bb2963f4.html

Contracts Scrutinized at SMMUSD Meeting

Post Date February 12, 2014
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Malibu Surfside News

Concerns regarding the generality of a contract between the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District – for the former’s oversight of environmental testing at local schools – were raised Thursday, Feb. 6, during a SMMUSD Board of Education meeting.

The District’s contract with the DTSC is still in its drafting phases, but by-and-large, the statewide agency would act as an overseer as the District undergoes testing and cleaning of other schools in Malibu – including Juan Cabrillo Elementary School – affected by polychlorinated biphenyl and other possible contaminations.

Assisting the District with the actual development and implementation of testing and cleaning plans would be Environ International Corporation, an engineering firm that has assisted the District with addressing environmental concerns in Malibu’s schools.

“We [hire] the people who will be conducting the testing and preparing the reports, the DTSC’s role is more of an oversight agency,” Assistant Superintendent Janece Maez said. “This sets the stage for Environ – and it will be their [Environ’s] plans that will be vetted publicly – but it will be the DTSC that moves forward and asks if what’s being done is appropriate.”

While a contract with Environ has yet to be drafted, the so-far lack of specificity regarding Malibu’s schools in the draft contract with the DTSC irked some members of the community.

“With the DTSC, I got a contract from them that I read and it was very general,” said Jennifer Denicola, a Malibu parent who was on the environmental task force that investigated the PCB contamination at Malibu High School. “It’s just their [the DTSC’s] standard contract and there’s very little information about Malibu.”

While “Exhibit C” of the contract laid out the scope of work to be performed by the DTSC, it does not include language or terms pertaining to Malibu’s schools or the environmental concerns at them.

Board member Oscar de la Torre said he was also concerned about the contract’s lack of specificity regarding scope of the testing that would be conducted in Malibu schools.

“One thing I wanted to know in terms of soil testing, the [Environmental Protection Agency] is looking at indoor air quality and building materials such as caulking, but then DTSC is going to be focusing on soil, so what about water?” he said. “I think it would be important to ensure we have comprehensive research to capture all of that in the scope of work.”

SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon, however, indicated that she felt the Board members may have been jumping the gun with concern over the specifics of testing plans that have yet to be developed with Environ, and which the DTSC would oversee.

“At this point, to start talking about what a testing plan might look like, we’re a little bit ahead of ourselves,” Lyon said. “That’s why we’re waiting to get the contract finalized with Environ.”

Speaking to de la Torre, Board member Laurie Lieberman said she shared his underlying concerns, adding that the vagueness found in the DTSC contract might also be mirrored in the Environ contract during their initial stages, but that imprecision could be resolved when the DTSC and Environ begin working together.

“A lot of this is vague and I think this makes everybody uneasy with good reason, but I think we’re going to have to go forward and work with the experts who have worked with the DTSC experts for years,” she said.

Prefacing that he is “suspicious of anyone that calls themselves an expert,” de la Torre said in response to Lieberman that he wants to ensure the Board members have an opportunity to review the Environ contract, as well as the scope of services contained within, before finalization.

“I feel confident that we hired someone [Environ] that has a good reputation to do the work, I just want to make sure that the board of education understands the scope of the work and that we have influence over the scope of the work,” he said.

 

http://www.malibusurfsidenews.com/Articles-News-c-2014-02-10-158819.113119-Contracts-scrutinized-at-SMMUSD-meeting.html

SMMUSD Board Meeting Update 2-6-14

SMMUSD Board Meeting Update 2-6-14
Post Date February 07, 2014
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My humble report from the school board meeting:

The SMMUSD Board all agreed to fund the rest of the $4 million for district wide funding (DWF)(I believe $700K) Most board members were against allowing any schools to raise, what I will call, supplemental funds. They mentioned lack of participation from Malibu and that they had to stick to the rules they made. This seemed more about sending a message to the Malibu parents then putting the kids first.

Many wonderful Point Dume mom’s came to the meeting to speak about DWF, but left after 3 hours of waiting for their chance to share their thoughts with the board. When I addressed the board later, I asked the board to consider in the future, changing their agenda so that when parents show up at a board meeting, the board should prioritize hearing from the parents of their schools and not make them wait until the end. Let’s hope they consider this :)

I spoke to the board about the contract with the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC). I urged the board to direct the DTSC and ENVIRON to include input from all stakeholders in the entire process; planning, reveiwing, testing and remediation choices. The parents are the biggest stakeholders and we have a right to decide what acceptable level of safety we are comfortable with for our children. This has to be an open discussion for all of us that includes both fiscal responsibility and our choice of acceptable level of safety.

The DTSC contract was approved. Jan could not explain what the DTSC would exactly do since it was not outlined in the contract. Oscar de la Torres asked to get more details on the contract. He asked very good questions about next steps and urged the board to make sure they direct Environ and DTSC to do comprehensive testing, so we will know what we have to do to fix it. I had a chance to speak to him outside the board room and he said he supports our efforts and that he is in agreement that we have an opportunity to do the right thing in Malibu and be a good example for all schools across the country. This is good news!

Many contracts were approved that can be found in the agenda at smmusd.org/brd1314/agn020614.pdf

Lastly, Environ has not signed the contracts yet, so no assessment has begun. Also, I believe Best Practice Cleaning as recommended by the EPA, has also not begun yet by our MHS maintenance staff.

Please remember, as always, this update is from my memory and includes my opinions and perspective :)

Warm Regards,
Jennifer

The President’s Cancer Panel Report: The Implications for Reforming our Nation’s Policies on Toxic Chemicals

Post Date February 03, 2014
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schf-nrdc

Overview

pcp-whitehouse

In a groundbreaking report released in May of 2010, the President’s Cancer Panel provided strong confirmation that exposure to toxic chemicals is an important and under-recognized risk factor for cancer, and recommended that the Government take immediate action to reverse this trend. The report, titled “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now” opens with the observation that “. . . the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated.” The report goes on to say that our government agencies are “failing to carry out their responsibilities” and concludes with specific recommendations for overhauling our nation’s flawed chemicals management system.

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Pesticide that killed two girls used at schools in San Diego County

Post Date February 01, 2014
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Fumitoxin

Click Here to Watch Report

 

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (CBS 8) — A gopher-control pesticide that killed two little girls in Utah is being used on athletic fields all over San Diego County, according to permits filed with the County of San Diego Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures.

The chemical, aluminum phosphide, is also known as Fumitoxin and it is deadly because it gives off toxic gas.

“You start out not feeling well, kind of sick, throwing up, and then you start to get short of breath, feeling weak and dizzy. Then your heart starts to have problems,” said Dr. Martin Caravati, Medical Director of the Utah Poison Control Center.

In February 2010, Rebecca Kaye Toone, 4, and Rachel Ana Toone, 15 months, died after fumes seeped into their home in Layton, Utah. The deaths led to increased restrictions on the use of Fumitoxin in schoolyards and residential areas. Click Here to Read Article

Karan Zopatti, 51, knows a lot about Fumitoxin. She filed a lawsuit against her San Marcos homeowners’ association for allegedly using the pesticide near her home.  She also believes pesticides contributed to the death of her one-day-old son, Matthew, in 1991.

“I want safety in my house. I want safety for my community. And, I certainly want safety for children,” said Zopatti. “I was completely ignorant until this happened to my family and I don’t want to see this happen to anybody else’s family.”

A restricted materials permit is needed to apply Fumitoxin on athletic fields at schools in San Diego County. The Fumitoxin tablets or pellets are dropped into the gopher tunnels and toxic gas travels throughout the entire underground system, killing the gophers.

“The kids are out there playing, having no idea that these gases can last up to 72 hours,” said Zopatti.

Pest companies are required to apply Fumitoxin when school is not in session, and post warning signs on the fields before and after application.  The signs currently are posted in the Oceanside Unified School District where Fumitoxin is still used.

The Oceanside district has a pesticide application contract with a company in Chino, California named Animal Pest Management Services.

“We use it (Fumitoxin) in seven counties at numerous school districts and never had one incident in 31 years,” said the company’s president, Dan Fox. “I’ve made literally millions of applications. I have 20 guys in the field and they apply it every day, every hour.”

Fox said Fumitoxin is safe and the Utah deaths in 2010 were the result of too much pesticide being applied too close to a home.

“That was horrible. It was tragic,” said Fox. “But I would not use it if was not safe.”

At schools in California, Fumitoxin – under its current restrictions – cannot be applied within 100 feet of a school building. Fox said the toxic gas does a good job of getting rid of gophers in playing fields.

“That’s the reason why school districts hire us, so kids are safe; so when they’re running a 100-yard dash or playing football or soccer, they don’t fall in a hole or break their leg or sprang their ankle,” said Fox.

Fox’s pest company in Chino, along with another firm in Lakeside named Agricultural Pest Control Services (AGPEST), have permits to apply Fumitoxin at numerous local schools, including campuses in the Oceanside Unified School District, the Sweetwater Union High School District, the Poway Unified School District, and the Chula Vista Elementary School District, just to name a few.

A manager with AGPEST declined to comment for this report.

A spokesperson for the Sweetwater Union district told News 8 that Fumitoxin has not been used since August 2012. A Chula Vista Elementary district spokesperson said Fumitoxin has not been used there for at least 12 months.

The City of San Diego, Parks and Recreation department stopped using Fumitoxin in 2010. Maintenance manager David Long said he used to use it for gopher control in Balboa Park. Now he uses traps.

“(Traps) are safe. They’re underground. People aren’t going to get into them. You know when you’ve killed the gopher because you have a body,” said Long.

Long said he changed to the non-toxic alternative out of concern for public safety.

“We use traps now and it’s fairly effective,” said Long. “Even when we used Fumitoxin, we still had gophers. But I don’t believe our problem without Fumitoxin is any worse than it was with Fumitoxin.”

Dan Fox, the pest company owner, told News 8 that traps are not as effective for killing gophers.

“You have to dig a hole. You have to put the traps in the ground. You get vandalism from it. You get wildlife trying to dig them up,” said Fox.

The San Diego Parks and Rec manager admitted setting traps can be a bit of a hassle.

“Using traps is not as cost effective as using Fumitoxin because with Fumitoxin; it’s one visit and you’ve killed the gophers,” said Long. “With traps you need to be there and put a few more hours into it.”

“But I mean, look at Balboa Park. You won’t see too many gophers,” added Long.

Which left Karan Zopatti with one last question. “Why are we doing this when you can use something that’s less toxic and there’s an alternative?” she asked.

If you want to find out which pesticides are being used at your neighborhood school, you can call the school district and ask to be added to the parental notification list.

*****************
News 8 questions and answers with Sandy Parks, Assistant Director of the County of San Diego Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures:

Question: Does your department consider the use of Fumitoxin safe at school sites?

Fumitoxin (aluminum phosphide) is applied below the ground in burrows to control rodents. It is a registered restricted material and must only be used by or under the supervision of a DPR-certified applicator. Users of Fumitoxin are required to obtain a permit from the CAC. The permit is time- and site-specific, and includes use practices to mitigate adverse effects. DPR’s licensing, registration, permitting and enforcement programs work in conjunction with the local CACs to minimize risks from pesticides when used according to applicable pesticide safety laws, label restrictions, and permit requirements.

Question: Is Fumitoxin the least toxic alternative for use at school sites (as opposed to traps) for gopher control?

Fumitoxin is not the least toxic alternative for gopher control. It is one of many tools available for the control of gophers. The selection of which method is best suited to an individual situation is determined on a case by case basis. When determining if a pesticide is the appropriate tool to use, many factors unique to the situation and the pest to be controlled must be considered before a decision can be made. Examples of the factors that may be considered are the severity of infestation, site to be treated, and timing of the treatment. There are several other non-pesticide options to manage gophers such as habitat modification to reduce gopher food sources; traps, exclusion using fencing or gravel; use of owls, snakes, coyotes and other predators that eat pocket gophers (not all appropriate for school sites);; and flooding to force gophers from their burrows. (See: www.cdpr.ca.gov/schoolipm/health_issues/main.cfm?#usehelper ).

Question: Do the local school districts where Fumitoxin is being used have Integrated Pest Management plans that require the least toxic material be used?

This question is best answered by each individual school district. If the school district is doing integrated pest management (IPM), their pest management decisions will be broad-based, considering alternatives to pesticides, location and extent of the infestation, potential for harming people or non-target animals, effectiveness, economics and the consequences of doing nothing. For example, allowing gopher holes on athletic fields can cause serious injury to children, including broken bones and muscle strains. In some cases, schools do trap or use other non-pesticide methods, but find they can’t keep up with a growing gopher population. IPM does not eliminate the use of pesticides. When pesticides are used in IPM, least toxic pesticides are used first, and more toxic options may be used only after other pest management alternatives have been evaluated.The Healthy Schools Act (HSA) has no provision requiring use of IPM at schools nor does it require schools to have an IPM plan or IPM training. The law requires DPR to provide IPM training to school districts, but attendance by districts is voluntary, as is their use of IPM methods. The Healthy Schools Act put into place “right-to-know” requirements, such as notification, posting and record keeping for pesticides used in California schools. However, the law has no provisions for direct enforcement. Since the requirements for schools are under the Education Code, the school district is ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the HSA. DPR provides outreach, resources and training to school districts in IPM. DPR also encourages school districts to adopt an IPM program and use other methods of pest control (including prevention and exclusion of pests) before using pesticides.

EPA Requires Pre-1979 Caulk to be Removed

EPA Requires Pre-1979 Caulk to be Removed
Post Date January 28, 2014
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Summary of the Jan 27th EPA message:

The message from the EPA is getting clearer. SMMUSD has deadlines it must reach by March 30th, 2014 that includes plans for removing all caulk with known concentrations above 50 ppm, mitigate or remove deteriorating caulk pre-1979, and test ALL rooms pre-1979. This will be a task for Environ once their contract is in place and they begin. As of this morning, Sandra Lyon said this is not completed.

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New Firm to Handle Malibu High PCB Removal

Post Date January 22, 2014
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By David Mark Simpson and Melissa Caskey / The Malibu Times

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education last week hired a new firm to oversee the next phase of environmental testing at Malibu High School, following months of health concerns over possible contamination at the campus.

The board gave district staff approval to negotiate terms with environmental firm Environ. The firm would conduct soil testing at the campus, as well as additional air quality testing. But the absence of cost estimates for the testing raised questions among the board.

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Together We are Strong

Together We are Strong
Post Date January 12, 2014
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Dear Parents, Teachers and Community Members,

I wanted to thank all of you for the letters to encourage the district to add me to the panel. Your letters along with the teachers persistence at their Friday meeting convinced Sandra Lyon to allow me to sit on the panel to interview and hire the Environmental Engineering Firm EEF. These interviews are tomorrow, Monday, Jan 13, 2013. Please email me at JD18@me.com, if you have any questions you would like me to try and ask at the interviews. I will check my email throughout the process.

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Malibu classrooms closed because of cancer scare to be cleaned

Post Date December 20, 2013
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MALIBU HIGH SCHOOL — It’s going to be a busy winter break for the Malibu school campuses.

Several rooms at the high school and middle school will be tested for cancer-causing PCBs, cleaned, and tested again all before the end of the break, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Superintendent Sandra Lyon announced in a letter to parents and staff Thursday night.

The safety of the Malibu High School campus has been questioned since October when 20 staff members, including three diagnosed with thyroid cancer, wrote a letter to the district complaining of a variety of health-related issues.

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Some Malibu High PCB Samples Well Over EPA Trigger Levels

Post Date December 05, 2013
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By David Mark Simpson / Special to The Malibu Times

PCB levels in one sample taken from Malibu High School are 37 times the level required to trigger Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) involvement, according to test results released by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Tuesday evening.

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