The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) this month rejected the plan for PCB inspection, management and removal at Malibu High School set forth by the environmental firm Environ, citing incomplete details and a lack of thoroughness in the original plan.
Environ, which was hired by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to handle the removal of PCBs, potentially harmful chemicals found in caulk at Malibu High School, has been given until July 4 to submit updated plans.
In a letter dated June 4, EPA Corrective Action Manager Steven Armann stated that Environ’s draft plan needed “significant restructuring to better clarify the activities that require EPA approval at Malibu High School.”
Recommendations provided in the letter include inspection of all pre-1980 light fixtures, which may have PCB ballasts; wipe sampling of some surfaces post-BMP cleaning; and testing all rooms and structures, even those that have been renovated since the 1980s, a step that Environ had previously ruled out as being unnecessary.