SMMUSD Seeks Modified Court Order On PCB
Written by 991KBU on December 4, 2018
The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is going to go to federal court this month to get permission to stop removing PCB contamination from buildings that are now scheduled to be torn down.
Several years ago … the district was ordered by a federal judge remove the PCB from all classrooms by the end of next year.
Since then … School and community leaders urge to the school board not to spend good money after bad … and rather than remove the PCB … replace the buildings.
A 195 million dollars bond issue was passed by voters this fall to start that process.
A lawsuit brought by a parents group called Malibu Unites … later America unites … brought about a court order from a federal judge to remove all of the PCBs from the classrooms.
PCB is a suspected cancer-causing chemical was widely used as glue in the 1960s … and very small amounts remain sealed up inside the older parts of the school campus.
Regular testing of the air shows no PCB in the air.
Removing it would cost 10 million dollars … which school officials say is a waste since the buildings are now going to be torn down.
And they emphasize that continuous PCB testing shows that the chemical is locked up inside the buildings and not circulating in the air.
America Unites has disputed some of this.
They would have to sign off on this … or the district will have to get the judge overrule his earlier rulings …. and modify his court order.
It’s not clear to us yet what the America Unites stance will be… we have asked them for comment … and we will get that to you when it comes in.
