Ever since the appearance of a cancer cluster among Malibu Middle School teachers in the year following the removal of 48 truckloads of pesticide and PCB contaminated soil, a group of Malibu parents and teachers have advocated comprehensive environmental testing and remediation at the campus.
Despite the obvious urgency of the matter, the parents’ demand for comprehensive testing was agreed to only after navigating a Byzantine, bureaucratic process driven by a procession of School District-employed environmental companies overseen by a high-priced corporate law firm, all at a cost to the taxpayers of over $500,000. And no remediation has yet been commenced or agreed to.
This experience has reinforced the importance of preventing, or at least limiting, the use of toxins in our community in the first place. June Louks, a Malibu mother of four and founder of the Malibu Agricultural Society (MAS), has already made significant inroads against the use of toxins in Malibu. In 2013, June led MAS who convinced all six sellers of rodenticide in Malibu—including a national chain—to discontinue sales in Malibu. Rodenticides are anticoagulants that poison domestic pets, owls, hawks, mountain lions and other wildlife higher in the rodent food chain. June was also instrumental in persuading the Malibu City Council to pass a resolution against the use of rodenticides citywide.
Ken Miller