Malibu divided over claims of toxic chemicals in public schools

Sunshine still glints off the surf, and the name continues to evoke a certain kind of paradise but, to many residents, it feels as if poison has snaked into Malibu. This rugged outpost of Los Angeles, a colony of canyons and beaches famous for the celebrities who call it home, is reeling from claims of toxic pollution, corruption and cover-up.

The row revolves around what used to be a source of collective pride: Malibu high school, a public, three-school campus where students scored high SAT scores, staged plays, rode horses and played soccer and water polo.

Now it is a source of angst: some parents and teachers, and at least one official, believe the grounds and buildings are contaminated with cancer-causing chemicals – and that big money interests are suppressing the truth to avoid scrutiny of other schools across the US.

“It’s a disaster. It doesn’t feel like Malibu here, it feels like southern Italy,” said Heiko Schmidt, a music industry executive and entrepreneur with two daughters at the school, which has also taught the children of Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford and other Hollywood figures.

Some parents, including model Cindy Crawford, have withdrawn children and are teaching them at home. Others have set up a micro-school at a nearby university. Activists have asked the environmental crimes section of the Los Angeles county district attorney’s office to investigate.

Skylar Peak, Malibu’s young surfer turned mayor, said the dispute had economic, health and moral implications for an otherwise fabulous part of California. “This could tarnish the image. I’ve heard of real estate deals that have fallen through,” he said.

Tensions over the school have soured friendships in the 13,000-strong community, an eclectic mix of Hollywood stars, chief executives, housewives, teachers and blue-collar workers. One side thinks children are at risk from complacent, if not corrupt, officials and naive parents; the other thinks conspiracy theorist rabble-rousers are causing needless disruption.

“It’s horrible. We are savagely divided. I’ve lost a lot of respect for some people,” said Cassandra Politzer Wiseman, a mother of three. “They’re basically poisoning our kids, long term.”

The story broke last October when 20 faculty members wrote a letter expressing alarm that three teachers had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, another three had thyroid problems and seven suffered migraines. They pointed the finger at the removal in 2011 of 1,017 cubic yards of soil allegedly contaminated with toxic chemicals, notably polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), which were used decades ago to tackle termites. Dozens of parents came forward to report children with respiratory problems.

Sandra Lyon, the superintendent of the Santa Monica-Malibu unified school district, assured parents there was no evidence of health risks and said the school would be tested for harmful chemicals. This year it announced that air, soil and surface testing that followed guidelines set by the Department of Toxic Substances Control and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had deemed the school safe.

Some parents accepted that. Others remained unconvinced. They formed a group, Malibu Unites, which teamed up with Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), a group representing teachers, and commissioned their own tests.

They found that some caulking sealants in the buildings had PCB levels 7,400 times higher than legal limits. For parents of children who said they used to chew caulk like gum, it was especially alarming.

Jennifer deNicola, head of Malibu Unites, just back from a PCB conference in Massachusetts, compared her learning curve to a scene in The Matrix. “I took the red pill and now I’m down the rabbit hole.”

The activist parents demanded the school do more tests – Crawford offered to pay – and erect temporary classrooms.

The school district refused, citing EPA advice that the absence of an “exposure pathway” mattered more than analysis of particular building materials. “We wouldn’t have students and staff in [there] if we hadn’t been assured by the experts that it was safe,” Lyon told the Guardian.

Critics expressed queasiness. “I believe we need immediate source testing and, if necessary, immediate remediation, with students in portables,” said Oscar de la Torre, who is running for re-election to the school board. Peak said parents had been left in a “grey zone”.

Hugh Kaufman, a senior EPA policy analyst who has been called a living legend in the world of federal whistleblowers, said the refusal to test further was “the smoking gun of the cover-up”. He suggested his own agency had succumbed to pressure from Malibu real estate interests and biotechnology group Monsanto, which made PCBs until they were banned in the 1970s. The material is believed to have been used in thousands of schools.

“Some of our ground troops are not happy that they’re not testing the classrooms,” said Kaufman. “I wouldn’t send my children to school there.”

Critics say Kaufman chases publicity. And there is scant evidence of Monsanto or real estate interests manipulating the EPA or school authorities. Rumours about shady property deals, electoral alliances and favour-peddling echo loudly, if not always convincingly, in such a small, media-savvy community. “The amount of intrigue behind the scenes makes it feel like something out of Chinatown,” said Stephanie Smith, a filmmaker who is making a documentary about the story.

Several dozen students from more than 1,000 recently withdrew from the school. Nine seventh-graders are taught at a micro-school set up on the grounds of Pepperdine University by Jackie Williams, the wife of actor Anson Williams, who played Potsie Webber in Happy Days. “The kids have adapted really well. I could see this expanding to other grades,” she said.

Some liberal parents bristle at Pepperdine’s conservative ethos, even though the university is not involved in tutoring the children. But options are limited. Other nearby public schools are full. And private schools cost at least $38,000 (£23,000).

“People have this image that we’re all rich celebrities,” said Politzer Wiseman, the mother of three. Celebrities were rife, she conceded: George Harrison planted quince trees in her garden; Tom Hanks coached little league baseball; a son dated Harrison Ford’s daughter; neighbours formed a protective ring to shield Pamela Anderson from paparazzi; Dick van Dyke attended school plays.

But proximity to glamour does not signify wealth, and parents of relatively humble means said they had little choice but to keep children at the public school and to warn them away from areas they considered especially perilous.

Jude Brown, the mother of a six-year-old, wanted her daughter to skip a twice-weekly lesson in a particular building. Brown offered to teach it herself in a different building but the school refused and launched truancy proceedings for her daughter’s non-attendance. “They escorted me off the premises. It was devastating.”