Board Weekly Update on Environmental Issues: Week ending Friday, February 7, 2014
Environmental Issues:
Environmental Engineering Firm
At the January 16, 2014 Board meeting, the Board directed staff to initiate work with the engineering firm Environ of Irvine and Los Angeles. A message from the Superintendent’s Office was sent shortly after to inform the community of the selection.
Acting on the Board’s direction, administration and legal counsel have completed the process of reviewing the draft agreement provided by Environ to ensure the scope of work is acceptable and meets the District’s and community’s needs and addresses all concerns. The agreement has been finalized and is in process of being executed.
Environ is going to be on board soon and will be working in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 9 and the Department of Toxic Substances Control to assist the District in training staff and implementing the best management practices (BMP) cleaning program, as well as designing and executing plans for testing indoor air quality and a contaminant abatement program.
Malibu HS vacated classrooms testing
As discussed previously, with the goal of returning teachers and students to the vacated rooms as quickly as possible, the process of testing and BMP cleaning of the rooms began immediately at the beginning of winter break. The sequence for this process was: pre-cleaning air sample testing, followed by BMP cleaning, followed by post-cleaning verification and sample testing in order to be thorough and to build trust.
The post-BMP air samples and verification air and wipe samples raw data had been sent to EPA Region 9 for review, and the District received the EPA response on January 27, 2014. The EPA reported that the air samples were well within health thresholds set by the EPA. The letter also specified steps that the EPA wants the District to take. Both the letter from the EPA and the Superintendent’s update concerning the EPA response were promptly posted on the District website.
EPA provided these preliminary findings in advance of receiving the full analytical data report from the District. A draft of the full analytical data report by the Phylmar Group was presented for review on January 29, 2014, and will be finalized shortly.
In addition to providing the analytical data report for the verification air and wipe samples, the Phylmar Group presented a draft of the analytical report for the post-BMP air sampling of the remaining thirteen rooms on February 3, 2014. Again, all the collected air samples post-BMP were well within health thresholds set by the EPA.
Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC)
DTSC has submitted to the District its Voluntary Cleanup Agreement for ratification and execution for DTSC’s involvement in any cleanup on the Malibu campus, including sampling and remedial activities. The Agreement has been reviewed and approved by District legal counsel, and an agenda item concerning this Agreement is being taken to the Board for approval at the February 6 Board meeting. The cost estimate submitted by DTSC for cleanup action is estimated to be approximately $42,000. The Agreement has been posted on the District’s website as part of the February 6th agenda.
California Public Records Act Requests (California Government Code Section 6250 et seq.)
There has been to date seven separate requests for public records concerning the District’s environmental issues as authorized under the California Public Records Act (“PRA”). District staff and legal counsel are in process of reviewing these requests and providing the appropriate public documents in a timely manner. The six requests to date are:
- Ken Miller dated October 7, 2013
- California Safe Schools dated October 20, 2013
- Ken Miller dated November 18, 2013
- Ken Miller dated December 23, 2013
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility dated January 14, 2014
- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility dated January 29, 2014
- California Safe Schools dated February 5, 2014
The Ken Miller PRA request dated November 18, 2013 has been completed and a response sent the week ending January 242014. The California Safe Schools PRA request dated October 20, 2014 has been completed and a response sent on February 4, 2014. The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility PRA request dated January 29, 2014 has been completed and a response sent on February 6, 2014. The remaining environmental PRA requests are in process.
