KBUU News Extra
FILED 7p Fri – UPDATED 8:45a Sat
A U.S. District Court judge has approved local school district plans to stop the expensive removal of small amounts of PCB from Malibu High School.
The judge says the passage of Measure M, and the replacement of the old buildings with new ones, will be a better way to spend tax money.
Judge Percy Anderson gave the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District until the end of 2024 to get the old buildings removed.
And he further enjoined America Unites – the parent group that brought the lawsuit – from entering the campus to take any samples, looking for PCB.
The ruling is a substantial rejection of the stated fears and claims of America Unites, a group of parents and teachers that took the district to court three years ago. America Unites won a federal court order in 2016 that required the district to remove all PCB from areas used by people by 2019 — a court order that enforced a timetable and plan that the district said was its goal in the first place.
The PCB is a suspected cancer-causing agent that was used in building material nationwide in the middle 20th century as a glue or binder. Almost all buildings erected in the 1950s-1970s contain PCB in floor tiling or ducts, sealed behind paint or tile.
There was no immediate comment about Friday’s ruling, from America Unites.
District Superintendent Ben Drati said late Friday “we are pleased with the ruling and committed to a process that moves students without negatively impacting education, while providing safe environments.
“The district was diligently complying with the 2016 order when community members suggested that the campus was not supporting 21st century education standards nor reflecting the priorities and vision of Malibu. Voters chose to rebuild the school by overwhelmingly passing Measure M.”
The judge’s Friday appears to be the end for America Unites’ efforts to control the construction plans at the school. The organization and its head, Jennifer deNicola, was publicly quiet during the Measure M campaign.
The district superintendent said he thought that the timeline — the five year extension that would be needed to complete the replacement of the buildings — was understood by everyone on the community. In his Friday statement, Drati allowed that “it seems the timeline was not understood by all.”
In the order, filed late Friday, the judge said classrooms could be used if old caulk, some of it containing PCBs, is sealed around windows, doors, and vents with known or assumed levels of PCBs.
He also wants a wall — where PCB-laden shellac was used — to be painted over.
Flooring in all rooms with known or assumed floor tiles with PCBs are to be inspected, and broken or missing tiles will be patched, encapsulated, or replaced, under his revised order.
The district is also ordered to continued to employ best management practices as required by the Environmental Protection Agency. A third party environmental professional selected jointly by the District and plaintiff America Unites must review compliance and results to insure interim safeguards are being maintained, the judge said.
The judge apparently is still angry that America Unites violated federal evidence rules in 2015 and took secret samples of paint.
“Plaintiffs, their officers, directors, members, supporters, employees, and anyone acting in concert with them, are permanently enjoined from sampling or testing caulk, other building materials, or any other item or location at the Malibu Campus, except with the express authorization of a court of competent jurisdiction,” he ordered.
Drati repeated Friday, in his statement, that it was Malibu High employees, parents and Malibu taxpayers who wanted to stop throwing good money after bad in the old buildings.
He said three points became clear since the judge signed his original order, to clean up the PCB, in 2016:
“1) we should stop spending money on buildings we will tear down, 2) we should plan the new campus, and 3) we need an extension from the court to do this.
“It takes years to plan, design and construct a campus,” he continued.
“Everyone seemed to agree when the board met in May and approved this action 7-0. District staff thought the consequences of this decision were clear, though it seems the timeline was not understood by all. Following passage of Measure M we immediately submitted a motion to request an extension so we could begin the rebuilding process.
“In spring 2018 SMMUSD began discussing a Malibu-only bond with various Malibu groups. The Malibu Facilities District Advisory Committee suggested that we suspend court-ordered remediation and replace buildings rather than abate so that we stop spending money on buildings that would be torn down.
“To accomplish that, we needed the court to extend the timeline.”
Measure M passed in the November election, and authorized the sale of $195 million in school bonds to complete the second phase of the school rebuild. An earlier bond issue funded the $80 million in construction underway now at the front of the school.