Supermodel and Malibu mom Cindy Crawford took on an unprecedented national role in the battle over environmental safety at Malibu schools this week, speaking out at a local protest and in a “Today Show” segment early Tuesday morning, announcing that she has placed her children in independent study programs.
“I look 10 years down the line. What if my kid, God forbid, had a problem? How could I live with myself if I knew that it was a possibility and I still sent them to school there?” Crawford told NBC correspondent Maria Shriver.
She added that she believes federal lawmakers should change the way public school buildings are regulated, especially in those built between the 1950s and 1970s. Human carcinogens ,known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, were used in building materials during that era and have been found in several parts of Malibu High and Middle School.
One week earlier, speaking on behalf of herself and husband Rande Gerber, she offered to foot the bill of the PCB testing at Malibu High School while speaking at a rally in Malibu’s Civic Center on Aug. 12.
“If money is an issue, Rande, my husband, and I have decided that we would happily pay for proper and thorough testing of all pre-1979 classrooms,” Crawford said to a crowd of about 200 people gathered outside of the Malibu Library.
“This is if they will let us. I don’t know how they could possibly say no,” Crawford added.
Crawford was speaking to an enthusiastic crowd of MHS students, parents, Malibu citizens and celebrities, who were rallying in support of Malibu Unites, a nonprofit dedicated to proper disposal of PCBs at Malibu High School and Middle School. PCB concerns arose in October 2013 when several Malibu High School teachers expressed fear that the diagnosis of three teachers with thyroid cancer could be related to contaminants on campus.
SMMUSD board member Oscar de la Torre also spoke in support of Malibu Unites at last week’s event, but said he was not speaking as a member of the school board.
“We should consider portable classrooms,” said de la Torre, adding, “that’s something I’m going to stand for, from the beginning until now—if I’m the only one on the board making that call.”
Despite support from de la Torre, Laurie Lieberman, another board member, apparently turned down Crawford’s financial offer during a school board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 13.
“I want to make it clear that we have never made cost a priority for determining the direction that we follow,” Lieberman told Crawford at the meeting, apparently denying her offer of funds for the high school.
She went on to discuss the merits of the type of testing that has so far occurred at MHS, stating that they must rely on science and follow the directions of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“It’s never been cost, it’s never been politics, it’s never been anything but a desire to be driven by what’s the appropriate science and what’s the appropriate way of testing, and as you say, defining a problem and finding a solution,” said Lieberman.
Thus far, the district has tested air and dust samples in Malibu classrooms, but not caulk samples, or potential “sources” that can eventually disintegrate and seep into air and dust. All Malibu High, Middle School and Juan Cabrillo Elementar y buildings were reopened and students returned to school on Tuesday. To view Crawford’s “Today Show” interview, visit malibutimes.com.
EPA involvement confuses some parents
Among those voicing criticism for months against the district and the EPA’s standards is Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst for the EPA. He has been part of dozens of email threads, online comment boards and has submitted various letters to the editor.
Several Malibu parents who wish to remain anonymous have expressed confusion as to his involvement in the case.
In 2011, he was profiled by the New York Times as a famed whistleblower with the agency since the time it was created in the early 1970s.
“He has gone toe-to-toe with top administration officials, been tailed by investigators at the request of agency brass and, for the past decade, has been involved in a retaliation suit that at one point saw EPA lawyers file 5,800 pages’ worth of documents in response to his discovery requests,” the New York Times wrote.
But in an email shared with The Malibu Times this week, a principal deputy administrator with the EPA said Kaufman is not an official spokesperson for the agency, including in matters involving Malibu High.
“Mr. Kaufman is an EPA employee of record, he has no official EPA role nor any substantive role on EPA’s behalf whatsoever in the Malibu High School issue. He does not speak for the Agency nor is he authorized to represent the Agency’s position in this matter,” Breen wrote.
When reached by telephone, Kaufman said he prioritizes looking out for public health and agreed that the regional director of the EPA is a spokesperson on the case.
“If you Google me you see I’m a whistleblower…I blew the whistle on the contamination that’s killing a lot of first responders from 9/11,” Kaufman told The Malibu Times. “There’s no confusion that the agency is doing something wrong, or people’s lives are at risk, I blow the whistle.”
