I completely agree with the teacher and plaintiff, Michelle Leahy, in Lulu Ramadan’s article “$185M verdict for toxic lights in WA school upheld by state’s high court” (Oct. 30, Times Watchdog). Schools’ physical structures cannot contain hazardous materials, which can subject students and teachers to potential health issues.
Schools are the infrastructure supporting our future generations and should be a haven in a capitalist society where waste dominates. The Sky Valley Education Center is one example of how corporations create sacrifice zones where waste is profit’s inevitable outcome. Monsanto, the manufacturer that constructed the light fixtures containing polychlorinated biphenyls, plans to fight the Washington Supreme Court’s decision, highlighting how capitalism enables businesses to consider people and places disposable. It refuses to admit wrongdoing and prioritizes profit over people’s lives.
I support Leahy’s call for every school in Washington to be tested for PCBs, as there are over 2,000 schools built before the government banned PCBs. However, Washington may not be doing enough to protect communities from the negative effects of PCBs because testing is not mandatory, and only three school districts have used the allotted funding.
To protect educators and students, we need both a policy movement and increased public awareness.
Nicole Strella, Seattle
