Shell to spend $55 million to clean soil at old South Bay rubber plant
Shell Oil Co. will spend $55 million to clean contaminated soil at a former rubber plant in the South Bay of Los Angeles County under an agreement with the federal government that was announced Wednesday.
The settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and other parties, known as a consent decree, requires Shell to clean harmful soil vapors and undertake other cleanup measures at the the Del Amo Superfund site near Torrance over the next several years.
The 280-acre complex, built during World War II, manufactured synthetic rubber and dumped chemical waste -- including benzene, propane, butylene and butane -- into unlined pits and evaporation ponds, causing extensive contamination of the soil and groundwater. It operated until 1972.
Shell will have to inject chemicals into the ground to break down contaminants, use a vacuum system to extract and filter harmful soil vapors and cap some areas with concrete to prevent the release of harmful chemicals that are in the soil and groundwater, according to the EPA.
EPA Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld said “these funds are key to advancing our cleanup actions at this site” and will help revitalize a neighborhood that “has been burdened for decades by this former industrial plant.”
The Del Amo Action Committee, a community group that has pushed for a more aggressive cleanup, said it is reviewing the agreement.
“I hope that they were able to work out and negotiate a good deal, but it probably will fall short of the amount needed to clean up the site,” said Cynthia Babich, who heads the group.
Shell spokesman Ray Fisher said the company “has agreed to conduct the cleanup and reimburse agency oversight costs in accordance with the consent decree.”
“As we move forward our primary concern is the safety and protection of public health and the environment,” Fisher said, adding that “we will continue to work diligently to perform this work in cooperation with the appropriate regulatory agencies.”
Because the federal government was a past owner of the site, the U.S. General Services Administration is required to reimburse Shell for 61% the cleanup costs. Under the agreement, Shell must pay the EPA $1.2 million for its past oversight activities.
Residents near the Del Amo site and the neighboring Montrose Superfund site have for decades contended with environmental woes, including the discovery of bowling ball-sized chunks of DDT that led to demolition of more than 60 homes and excavations of two dozen frontyards.
Earlier this year, the EPA tested air quality inside more than 100 homes near the Del Amo site, where residents worry they are breathing dangerous vapors seeping up from the plume of tainted groundwater below.
The agency found pollutants associated with the cleanup sites, including benzene, chloroform and trichloroethylene, and has since ordered an additional round of testing.
For more environment news, follow me @tonybarboza
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