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State orders more soil testing at Portola High

Construction of the new Portola High School in Irvine is nearing completion. Additional soil testing at the site will not conflict with the school's opening schedule, Irvine Unified Supt. Terry Walker said.

Construction of the new Portola High School in Irvine is nearing completion. Additional soil testing at the site will not conflict with the school’s opening schedule, Irvine Unified Supt. Terry Walker said.

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)
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In response to concerns about the adequacy of previous clean-up activities, the Irvine Unified School District’s new high school site will undergo additional soil testing.

The state-ordered sampling will evaluate the potential presence of contaminants that could pose a threat to students, staff or others on Portola High School’s property, according to a letter from Barbara Lee, director of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, to John Fogarty, an assistant superintendent in the IUSD.

The under-construction, much-debated Portola site is on the former Marine Corps Air Station El Toro.

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In November 2014, workers uncovered an unusual odor and soil discoloration while digging a trench for a nearby storm drain. A layer of contaminated soil was found to extend onto the school site.

Environmental experts brought in by the school district and construction company Heritage Fields LLC found petroleum hydrocarbons and naphthalene, which are commonly associated with diesel and jet fuel, present in the soil.

A state-of-the-art music hall and auditorium is in the works at the new Portola High School in Irvine.

A state-of-the-art music hall and auditorium is in the works at the new Portola High School in Irvine.

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

Workers removed the layer of soil, and experts said the measured levels were not harmful.

As stated in Lee’s letter, the state had interest in further review based on three factors: the soil that was found in November 2014; the military once used the site; and prior sampling found low levels of volatile organic compounds.

Harvey Liss, a former Irvine planning commissioner and civil engineer, has written a series of articles on the testing at the site in the Irvine Community News & Views, a monthly political mailer.

Former Mayor Larry Agran, who is affiliated with the mailer, said that he and Liss found documented testing record lacking.

Agran wrote Gov. Jerry Brown in August to request more testing. He then received a letter in the mail last week from Lee, notifying him that additional examination would take place.

“I was pleased to see [Brown] following up on my Aug. 31 letter, and that it was ordered, not suggested, but ordered that comprehensive, independent testing for toxic chemicals be done in accordance with the highest standards,” Agran said.

Irvine Unified Supt. Terry Walker said the district has conducted more than 200 tests and that the additional testing will serve as a conformational sampling that reaffirms the site’s safety.

“The DTSC has clearly heard from others that they have concerns,” Walker said. “They voice their concerns, and voice them loud, and that’s certainly a rationale.”

District spokeswoman Annie Brown said, “We’ve been told that when the DTSC receives an inquiry, it’s common to go back, review and take a second look.”

In a correspondence between DTSC Division Chief Dot Lofstrom and Fogarty last week, Lofstrom stated the soil samples would be “confirmational” and that “site safey is not in question.”

“We decided to have additional sampling because there have been some questions that have persisted about the site,” Lofstrom told the Daily Pilot. “In that case, it’s better to go out and have an additional conformational sampling to assure people who might otherwise be concerned.”

Science classrooms are nearly completed at the new Portola High School in Irvine.

Science classrooms are nearly completed at the new Portola High School in Irvine.

(Don Leach / Daily Pilot)

Irvine Unified’s consultants will do the sampling under DTSC oversight, and the samples will be sent to a state certified lab for testing.

If all goes as planned, furniture will be moved into the new school by June. The campus will open for students in late August.

Portola, built for 2,400 students, will become the district’s fifth comprehensive high school. Northwood High School was the last to open in 1999.

Portola consists of 16 buildings and several sports fields, including a student union, an Olympic-sized pool and a performing arts facility is being built with a stage, orchestra pit and balcony seating.

Walker said the additional soil sampling will not conflict with the opening schedule.

“The DTSC has already approved the site, so this is an opportunity to reaffirm what they’ve already established,” Walker said. “If additional work is something we need to do, we’re happy to do that.”

The district will hold a public meeting, date to be determined, where Irvine Unified staff will present the history of the Portola High School project and the draft work plan for the additional samples developed with DTSC oversight.

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Alex Chan, alexandra.chan@latimes.com

Twitter: @AlexandraChan10

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