By Marni Kamins
“Superman’s not coming. We’ve been taught to believe that someone else is going to fix it — the EPA, the government, the officials. And we’ve been waiting and waiting. But they’re not. You have to fix it. You have to take action.” — “Erin Brockovich”
Growing up in Malibu, I remember hearing that kids in the Valley often weren’t allowed to play outside because the air quality was too poor — smog would settle in low-lying areas, and schools would call “bad air” days. That never happened to me here. Malibu’s clean air and open hills were part of what made it special.
But now I look at Webster Elementary and Our Lady of Malibu, both tucked at the bottom of a canyon, and I wonder: Are we safe?
Right now, 100 debris trucks are expected to pass through Malibu Canyon daily, en route to the dump. Many of these trucks use the LA Public Works parking lot — located just 25 feet from Webster and 30 feet from the Boys & Girls Club — and they do so during school hours. They idle on Winter Canyon Road, waiting to enter the lot, especially around 2:40 to 3 p.m. — pickup time at both schools. Parents sit in their cars, mostly unaware. But the children see it. They run past the trucks, pulling their collars over their faces to block the exhaust. Others are still outside playing when the trucks arrive.
These are heavy-duty diesel construction trucks, many carrying post-fire debris — ash, drywall, broken concrete, burnt plastics, possible asbestos, and heavy metals like lead and arsenic. Even with tarps, they kick up dust and invisible particulate. Is it settling in the air, the playground, the soil? Is it safe to breathe? Is it safe to play in? Does it settle into the grass and dirt on our field?
This isn’t a one-time occurrence. This will be ongoing — potentially for months or years. Our children are essentially at the bottom of a bowl, encircled by debris trucks day after day.
If this were a construction site, OSHA would require testing for silica, diesel particulate, asbestos, and more. But this is a school — filled with preschoolers and kindergartners. Where is the oversight? Where is the testing?
After the Franklin Fire, Webster was closed for six weeks. It partially burned. I remember walking into classrooms afterward and still seeing artificial Christmas trees, stuffed animals, and soft goods — the very items that should be discarded after smoke exposure. I know because my own home had smoke damage, and we were told to throw away anything porous. Why didn’t the same standard apply to the school? I was informed that they did throw these away, but then I saw them still in the classrooms with my own eyes.
Two staff members at Webster privately told me they believed the post-fire cleanup was insufficient. Both said they developed rashes after returning to work. I personally know over a dozen children who experienced the same. A local doctor at Malibu Urgent Care told us it was likely dermatitis from ash exposure.
Why am I bringing this up? Because I’ve seen this story play out before. Our district covered up PCB contamination at Malibu High for years, ignoring parent and teacher concerns until three staff members were diagnosed with thyroid cancer. Only after pressure from the community did they finally test. Years later, many graduates were diagnosed with thyroid, lung (in non-smokers), and colon cancer — in their early 30s. Testing came too late for them.
I don’t want to repeat that history. I’m writing this as a parent, a neighbor, and someone deeply worried about what our kids are breathing every day.
At the very least, Webster and OLM deserve weekly, site-specific air and soil testing after this unprecedented disaster. We should be power washing the campus daily. We should be rerouting trucks during school hours. We should be demanding better — because the district will not act unless we, the people of Malibu, insist.
If this concerns you too, please speak up. Talk to other parents. Email the city. Attend the school board meeting. Join me in asking for the basic right to know that our children are not being slowly poisoned.
Let’s protect them — now, not later.
Marni Kamins has been appointed to the Malibu City Planning Commission by Council member Bruce Silverstein and will be sworn-in, in April.