To the SMMUSD Board of Education:
At the Feb. 5 Board of Education meeting, I referred to a school in Hartford, Conn., which closed due to finding low levels of PCBs in the air — lower than Malibu High School.
Hartford’s superintendent said, “We are acting in an abundance of caution. While the health risks may be low… That is why I decided to move the students and staff … We were not going to take any risk with our kids.”
According to CBS Connecticut, “Contractors hired by the school say the PCBs came from caulking, paint and a spray-applied fire proofing material.”
You still have not tested to identify the PCBs. How can the board guarantee you are keeping kids from dermal contact with high levels of PCBs if you don’t even know where they are?
Based on actions up to now, it seems that this board doesn’t believe PCBs are dangerous, toxic or cancerous. If you did believe the risks and realized Congress heavily weighed the scientific evidence before they banned PCBs, then you would act swiftly and with great care to remove students from MHS and Juan Cabrillo Elementary.
Congress requires immediate removal of PCBS because they “pose an unreasonable risk to human health.”
The EPA has said they “believe” PCBs in the air below 200ng will not cause any harm. They say “believe” because they don’t know for sure. The EPA has no scientific research on inhalation. University scientists do have studies showing that low level of PCBs cause serious health problems. EPA doesn’t have studies to contradict these university findings. If these university scientists are correct, then Superintendent Lyon and this board are putting our children at an unreasonable risk.
Special education students at both Malibu High and Cabrillo occupy rooms in the buildings that tested highest for PCBs.
We presented you an estimate from an expert to investigate, test and remove PCBs for approximately $1 million. Our experts have years of experience and a successful track record for removing PCBs from schools. Please, let’s work together and swiftly solve this. We can have a plan in place for full removal this summer, so all students and staff can return in 2015-16 to a PCB-free education!
Jennifer deNicola
America Unites