New Testing Shows Toxicity at Malibu Schools Worse Than Originally Thought

Contamination at the tri-school campus in Malibu is far more extensive than previously imagined, new testing results confirm.

Two constituent groups, parent-led Malibu Unites and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, sent a document to the Environmental Protection Agency and Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District today, showing the results of recent, independent testing, which made two major findings:

• Contamination from PCBs, found in the caulking used to construct the buildings, is far worse than the conclusions from the district’s own contracted testing firm -- as much as 7,400 times higher than legal limits and the highest known results for a classroom in the U.S

• Juan Cabrillo Elementary, which had not been previously tested by the school district, is also contaminated, with one room’s caulking measuring 340,000 parts-per-million (ppm) PCBs, meaning that approximately one-third of the caulk consisted of PCBs. The legal limit triggering removal is 50 ppm.

More troubling is the realization that when school officials moved sixth-grade students out of contaminated rooms at Malibu Middle School into Juan Cabrillo earlier this year, they actually ended up housing them in a classroom more toxic than the first, said Jennifer deNicola, president of Malibu Unites.

“There’s what we call a ‘don’t test, don’t know’ policy,” deNicola said. “They have exposed children unnecessarily and irresponsibility to extremely high levels of PCBs.”

Officials with Santa Monica-Malibu Unified did not return a reporter’s inquiry.

A spokeswoman for the EPA, Nahal Mogharabi, confirmed receipt of the documents, but wouldn’t say much more.

“EPA is working with the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to address PCB issues at their schools. Today we received PCB sampling data from an independent, outside party," Mogharabi said. "EPA remains committed to protecting the students and teachers at Malibu Middle and High School and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School and will evaluate the data submitted today, along with the entire data package the district is collecting this summer to determine if the district needs to take additional steps to address PCB issues at their schools."

In June, the EPA rejected the school district’s plan for remediation. The district submitted a new plan July 3, but both PEER and Malibu Unites finds it severely inadequate, especially because it allows PCBs above legal limits to remain inside classrooms for 15 years or more, according to the combined press release.

deNicola is hoping the school board takes the results to heart and erects PCB-free portables before school resumes.