We all want to know the truth. Has the district used the proper tests to evaluate the school? Will our children get sick today or in the future from the PCBs found at MHS and JC. In the past week, the district’s newly hired PR firm has sent out messages regarding the re-opening of buildings at MHS. Air and wipe testing being performed by the district will not determine future exposure or be protective of student and teacher’s health. While cleaning of the buildings is fantastic, it does not remove the PCBs. The Federal Violations still remain. Congress has clearly stated in the Toxic Substance Control Act regulation that, “PCB concentrations of 50 ppm or greater present an unreasonable risk of injury to health.” MHS/JC have 6 different buildings with levels over 50ppm. TESTING COMPARED: IT’S APPLES and ORANGES: The district is surface wipe testing and air testing only. The independent test results released by Malibu Unites/PEER showed 370,000ppm in the caulking, which caulking is the source of PCBs. PCBs in caulk are regulated under Federal Law, but air testing and surface wipe testing are not. Surface wipe (wipe) tests involve measuring a small area (100x100cm) as a representative sample of a much larger surface (classroom). This wipe test will provide information about that small area in that moment of time it was taken. The wipe sample will show PCBs that have been released from a source (e.g. caulk). PCBs come out of the caulk and into the dust, which is why wipe samples are lower than caulk samples. Air testing reveals the PCBs in the air at that moment of time the test is administered. Studies have showed that classrooms tested multiple times reveal significantly different results based on a number of factors, like temperature, ventilation, testing methods, etc. It costs $100 to test the caulk. PCBs were not applied evenly in caulk around the window frames, as they were mixed in at the job site. The only way to determine whether there are PCBs in or around a window frame is to remove several pieces of the PCB source material (in this case the window caulk) and test that material. Environ has not performed this type of testing. The data that has been released by the district and the data that has been released by Malibu Unites/PEER is like comparing apples to oranges. The apples (wipe and air testing) cannot tell the whole story. The oranges (caulk testing) will reveal the nature and extent the PCB contamination is throughout the campus; which is why the caulk must be tested in each pre-1979 classroom.

If the EPA and the district is so confident that the school is ‘safe’ then test the caulk and prove it.

In the April 4th update, Superintendent Lyon denies request for cooperation with Malibu Unites independent expert for oversight. She states that she thinks Environ can peer review itself. This is not oversight, this is control. A company can not PEER review itself! Presenting only the district’s expert’s viewpoint to the EPA and DTSC for approval in not independent oversight. The district continues to not show good faith, transparency or concern for community input. The only way to ensure that this process is transparent and trustworthy is to allow full cooperation with Malibu Unites’ independent expert team on behalf of the community.

While the district is more interested in controlling the entire situation, the EPA and the DTSC understand the value of community oversight and working with the experts at Malibu Unites. The EPA will provide our expert the testing plan once they receive it. This plan is due on Friday, April 25th, 2014. Our experts will then make comments and suggestions to the EPA regarding this plan for their approval. Malibu Unites will send the experts comments and analysis to the community. The DTSC has agreed to a similiar procedure when they receive their plan expected in May.

Environ has had ample time to formulate a testing plan and they are solely responsible for slowing down this process. The EPA and DTSC, have both been waiting for Environ’s testing plan to review since late March. Environ asked the EPA for an extension on the March 30th, 2014 deadline to vet the plan to the community. The EPA extended it to April 25th for this reason, but Environ did not vet this plan to the community at all. Instead Environ has added 4 questions to the DTSC survey concerning Best Management Practices (BMP) cleaning, which is a remediation tactic and school cleaning program recommended by the EPA to remove dust that may contain PCBs that can cause exposure. These questions have nothing to do with a testing plan.

BMP is no substitute for identifying the source of the PCBs and removing them so that we no longer have to clean PCBs from the dust or the air. Environ should not be polling the community for a remediation recommendation or cleaning program. They should have the experts to do a scientific analysis of BMP. If the EPA is recommending BMP as an effective remedation tool to reduce exposure, then they should have the testing data to back it up and know exactly how often BMP is necessary to be effective at removing PCBs. Asking our community about remediation before assessing the school with proper and comprehensive testing is not responsible. Once the caulk is tested and sources are identified, we can all discuss remediation options that may or may not include BMP.

Important to note that the Best Management Practice Professional HEPA Cleaning that was done at MHS in December 2013, was not effective. Therefore, no one can assume that BMP performed by our maintenance staff will reduce exposure. For example: the GYM office was pretested at 96.7ng, then BMP HEPA cleaned for approximately $5000, and post-tested at 89ng. This is a 7 ng reduction and evidence that BMP even by professionals is not effective at reducing PCB exposure in the air, so the likelihood of a school’s maintenance staff to do this is not likely. (no wipe samples were taken in this room)

Environ’s proposed schedule shows testing to occur in July, but no plans for remediation. This is not acceptable. This envrionmental issue should not spill into the 2014-2015 school year. The SMMUS Board as well as the Superintendent should be pushing them to a stricter deadline that is in the best interest of the children and teachers. The Board and Superintendent are not doing their job but sitting back and allowing this to drag on at the expense of our children health and stress regarding being in a hostile environment not knowing the cumulative levels of exposure they are receiving.

During the interview process with Environ, they along with the other 3 interviewees proposed that comprehensive testing would be done by the end of the school year so we could remediate during the summer, when no one was on the campus. Other firms that day had presented a complete timeline that showed testing would have been done by now so that we could plan remediation to occur over the summer.

Lyon also stated in her update that the task force agreed to hire Parsons, this is not true; the district hired Parsons all on their own. In the 2009 discovery of toxic soil, another Parsons’ employee, did not inform the parents and staff of the “Pesticides and PCBs (that) were present…at concentrations that presented an unacceptable health risk” as stated in the Arcadis report. Another firm hired the district and reports solely to the district is not considered appropriate independent oversight.  Click To Read Update and See the Schedule

Do you know the story from the Matrix starring Keanu Reeves?

“You take the blue pill, the story ends. You wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill, you stay in wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.” -Morpheus to Neo

The term red pilll is defined as a human that is aware of the true nature of the Matrix (our world). I took the red pill. I am now in this with my eyes wide open. Before Oct 2013, I cleaned my house with regular chemicals and didn’t think twice, I sat on my couch and cuddled with my kids and didn’t think twice, and I sent my kids to school thinking they were in a safe environment and I didn’t think twice. Fast forward, just 6 months later and my eyes are wide open. I took the red pill. I check the labels on my cleaning products, I wonder if my couch has PBDEs and I know what needs to be done to our beloved MHS and elementary schools to ensure our children are in a safe environment.

No one told me that if I take the red pill there is no way out. That red pill must be connected to our moral compass and now I am in it for the long hall. I don’t see a way out, I only see opportunities to make our world healthier and safer. Someone told me that it is my turn to become a steward of our environment. I wasn’t sure what that would entail, but for my kids; all of our kids, I will gladly find out.

Recently at a basketball game at MHS, a fellow parent asked me if I regret getting involved with this issue at MHS because of the time commitment and road blocks. Of course I said no right away And I really don’t regret it at all. But as I thought more about it, I realized that you never know when or who will call on you to join something that matters and that is bigger then yourself; and for me this is one of those times. I am not sure how deep the rabbit hole goes… but I am in for better or for worse. But with all you, the amazing people that are in this with me, I know it will be for the better; not just for Malibu schools, but I hope for all schools in California and across the Country.

Who’s ready to take the red pill?

Please check out this award winning short video from HealthyChild.org, not only is it beautifully done, but it is eye-opening. I hope you enjoy it.

Warmest Regards,

Jennifer deNicola

(letter to the editor in response to Arnold York’s The Politics of Hysteria article on March 19, 2014)

MOST DEFINITELY HYSTERICAL

I am a parent of a 6^th grader at Malibu High School.  Last October, I attended a standing-room-only meeting led by district superintendent, Sandra Lyon, who promised the families of Malibu High that she would do all she could to fix the problem (that was identified back in 2009) in a timely manner.  Now, it’s the end of March, and the problem is not even close to being fixed, despite the fact that the district’s initial testing triggered the EPA’s regulatory control which meant a federal government agency had to be brought into the mix and we still, to date, don’t know how widespread the PCB contamination is.  I am not a researcher.  I’m a mom with a fierce desire to keep my family safe.  Despite my non-scientist status, here’s what I know.  I know that toxins are not just up at Malibu High; they are everywhere.  I know that the air we breathe, the ocean and pools we swim in, the food we ingest and the water we drink and bathe in have toxins.  The chemicals in our deodorant, make-up, lotions, perfumes, cleaners, detergents; the list goes on and on; also are increasing our toxin load.  I know that a toxin does not stand-alone.  It combines with all the other toxins we’ve encountered over our lifetime, resulting in cumulative damage.  You know what else I know?  I know that when I was eight months pregnant, I began having gran mal seizures, seemingly out of nowhere.  “Out of nowhere” became a brain tumor.  And when that tumor was removed and biopsied, it was a Grade Four Glioblastoma.  Not to sound trite, but there is no Grade Five.  I thought I wouldn’t live to see my child walk.  Given that there is no genetic link when it comes to brain tumors, I began to live a cleaner, less toxin-filled life. Eleven years later, I’m alive and have a beautiful kid, who I look at and think of all the things I can’t control that heighten her toxin load.  But the things I can control – like the possible contamination up at the high school, where she spends a minimum of 35 hours a week, August through June – I want answers and I want them now.  So when someone says to me that I am “governed by the politics of hysteria,” I nod my head, agreeing that, when it comes to my kid and her health, I am most definitely hysterical.

I am encouraged by the latest announcement from our district representatives re: the testing of MHS and JCES.  The district has heard our voices, but we must continue to speak up with vigilance.  Malibu Unites helps us do this as a cohesive group. This isn’t just a school issue; it’s a community issue.  If you live up by the high school, if you play on their fields, even if you just walk your dog around their track, we need you to speak up.  Please join Malibu Unites at AmericaUnites.com, like them on Facebook at Malibu Unites and follow them on Twitter @MalibuUnites.

Sky Kunerth

Mother and Malibu Unites Advocate

Click Here to See Arnold York’s Article

Controversies

March 18, 2014

Dear SMMUSD:

The citizens of Malibu and Malibu High parents have the right to ask: Where were our City Council members when toxins were first detected in the soil at MHS in 2009 and when remediation occurred in 2011?

Finding contamination on school grounds is not an unusual occurrence. A town leadership that stays silent on the subject is.

In 2007, when the Paramus (NJ) School District concealed news about pesticides in the soil at West Brook Middle School for four months, the Bergen Record broke the story, the town’s mayor shut down the school for remediation, and the school board put the superintendent on extended leave, which led to her resignation. (Worth noting: In Paramus, information was withheld for four months and 40 cubic yards of soil were removed. In Malibu, we’re talking about more than 1,000 cubic yards and four years.)

In 2010, Lexington (MA) Public Schools temporarily closed Estabrook Elementary School when elevated levels of PCBs were detected in classroom air samples. In 2012 the city of Lexington filed a class-action suit against Monsanto on behalf of the Lexington school district and all school districts in the state with PCB problems in their schools.

And in 2011, when PCBs were found in the athletic field soil and later in the groundwater during a school renovation project at Greenwich High in Greenwich, Connecticut, town and school officials worked together to create a plan for remediation. Their strategy includes canceling summer school and restricting staff access to campus while the work is being done over two successive summers.

Isn’t the difficult work of advocating for citizens at such times exactly what a City Council is for? And if information wasn’t being withheld from the public, as some council members claim, why weren’t they on the front lines advocating for our children? And why weren’t our local papers reporting on the issue? MHS parents and new candidates for office are the only ones asking hard questions of our school and local officials. Sadly, five months after the contamination at MHS became national news, our school district staff, our school board members, and certain members of the City Council appear to be more interested in preserving their reputations and their own interests than in protecting the health and welfare of local children and addressing citizens’ concerns.