Chemical contaminants like PCBs (Polychlorinated Bipenyls) do not belong in our schools. If your school was built or renovated between 1950 and 1979, it may contain PCBs in the caulking or other building materials. The only way to confirm the presence of PCBs is to test the source (ie: caulking or building material). Children are mandated to be in school and they should provide a healthy and safe environment for all children. Schools should be required to test for PCBs and immediately disclose the results to parents and teachers.

Polychlorinated Bipenyls (PCBs) were found in the soil and in the building materials at Malibu Middle and High Schools. PCBs are a class 1 carcinogen according to IARC (International Agency for Research on Cancer). The Santa Monica-Malibu School District (the district) plans to manage PCBs in place which is in direct violation of federal law (TSCA) and will continuously expose students and teachers to carcinogens. 

The three classrooms with the highest levels of PCBs are the ones occupied by the three teachers recently diagnosed with thyroid cancer. 

Seven months ago, Malibu Middle and High School teachers wrote a letter to the district stating concerns that their health problems were caused by their work environment; three teachers diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer within four months of each other and another ten teachers diagnosed with Thyroid Disease. Soon after, Parents discovered that in October of 2009, more than 1,000 tons of toxic soil, contaminated with nine different cancerous and toxic contaminants, were found on campus. The district did not notify or disclose to parents or teachers the discovery of "pesticides and PCBs that were present... at concentrations that presented an unacceptable health risk," as stated in the district's own workplan. Almost two years later, the district remediated the soil while teachers and students were on campus.

In October 2013, parents and teachers were promised full comprehensive testing of the soil and classrooms. As of May 2014, a screening analysis for only one contaminant (PCBs) has taken place in only ten classrooms. Five of the ten classrooms tested violated the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA), putting Malibu Middle and High School under manditory EPA regulation.

TSCA's Federal Law requires the removal of PCBs of more than 50 parts per million (ppm). The EPA has not enforced this law at Malibu High School. EPA region 9 has actually encouraged the school district to limit its investigation by not testing any other sources for PCBs to avoid any further TSCA violations.

Please sign our petition asking Senator Boxer, Chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee, to require: 

• EPA to enforce the law at all schools and require removal of PCBs that violate TSCA 
• all schools, including Malibu Schools, to test for PCB sources (ie: caulking)
• all schools use precautionary principles when human health is at stake
• remove students and teachers from rooms that violate TSCA until full remediation occurs. 

  Thank you for your support!

- THE MALIBU UNITES LEADERSHIP TEAM 

A community of concerned Moms, Dads, Teachers, Students, Staff, Alumni and Community Members  

for more information visit malibuunites.com