Torrance
Construction of a business/industrial park on the former Union Carbide Co. site is expected to begin in July, after a city deadline for public protests passed last week without opposition.
The 62-acre site on Del Amo Boulevard and Prairie Avenue has remained vacant since 1982 when more than 64,000 tons of contaminated soil was removed to hazardous waste dumps. Waste from the production of chemicals had been dumped in sumps, and leaks from containers had contaminated the dirt.
The state Department of Health Services had certified that portion of the land as safe.
Demolition of the remaining Union Carbide facilities last fall uncovered additional contaminated soil and about 1,700 tons of dirt were removed.
Union Carbide has spent about $4 million since 1982 for the cleanup of the site. The company shut down its chemical and plastic production facilities in 1981.
BCL Associates of Long Beach conducted the final cleanup and monitoring of the site. The state is reviewing BCL’s data before issuing final state certification.
“We all wanted the site to be clean, and we feel it is clean,” said Jim Crisp, vice president of BCL.
The site is being developed by Watt Investment Properties Inc. of Santa Monica.
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