Monroe families sue Monsanto, government over chemical injuries

Dozens of families have filed a lawsuit alleging that toxic chemicals injured students at Monroe’s Sky Valley Education Center.

“If these families could go back and send their children to a safe school, they would do that in a heartbeat,” said Attorney Sean Gamble who represents the families. “That’s been taken away from them. Their children have been poisoned by chronic exposure to extremely toxic chemicals.”

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Gamble is with Seattle’s Friedman Rubin law firm.

“I think state agencies and school districts across the state need to do a better job ensuring that school buildings are safe for our children, for our teachers, and for our families,” he said. “This never should have happened and it was entirely preventable.”

The lawsuit filed Tuesday in King County Superior Court is against chemical company Monsanto, the Monroe School District, Snohomish Health District, and the State of Washington. It claims state agencies and school district failed to keep the Sky Valley Education Center safe for students and teachers. More than 800 students were enrolled at the school last year.

Contaminated school

The families argue the buildings are unsafe due to decades of chemical leaks and spills that have contaminated surfaces. Photos included in the lawsuit show children with severe injuries including rashes and peeling skin. The lawsuit claims most of the problems came from synthetic chemicals produced by Monsanto.

The lawsuit specifically mentions polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Monsanto made lighting and construction products with PCBs for decades until they were banned in the ’70s, but the lawsuit alleges the company still sold the products after it knew they were harmful. Products such as caulk and light ballasts are possible sources of PCBs, The Everett Herald reports. The Herald also notes that students and teachers witnessed light ballasts leaking, fuming, or smoking over the years. Air, dust, soil, carpets, and furniture can be contaminated through such incidents.

The Snohomish Health District says they are not commenting at this time. The attorney for the Monroe School District said the district has worked hard to clean up the school since learning about the problem. The Everett Herald reports the Snohomish Health District received many complaints about the buildings over the years, and that the Monroe School District spent $1 million to remedy the issues in 2016.

Following news of the lawsuit, Sky Valley Education Center posted this message on its website:

We were informed today that a lawsuit has been filed regarding previous indoor air quality concerns at Sky Valley Education Center (SVEC).

Air quality concerns at SVEC, including potential polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contamination, were first raised during the 2013-2014 school year. In compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency’s guidelines, we identified and cleaned all potentially affected fixtures. Since then, we have aggressively and proactively worked to address all possible air quality concerns, including PCBs, at SVEC. This includes:

• engaging numerous environmental consulting agencies to perform advanced indoor air quality testing,
• ensuring consistent compliance with all relevant state and federal laws, and
• replacing and retrofitting aging portions of the building as needed.

Last year, we temporarily restricted access to a few spaces in the facility while additional testing and updates were completed, in order to ensure the absolute safety of our students and staff. We have been transparent about our efforts and have provided regular updates to the SVEC community regarding the many steps we have taken to address concerns. Our number one priority and commitment is the safety of our students and staff and we continue to comprehensively monitor the air quality within the facility, even after recent testing has indicated no detectable levels of PCBs. Official test results can be found on our BoardDocs website.