Escondido

Cleanup crews have begun work on removing PCB, a potentially cancer-causing agent once used by power companies as a lubricant in transformers, from a closed manufacturing plant at Tulip Street and Valley Parkway.

The cleanup at CSI Industries, a manufacturer of capacitors, was ordered by the federal Environmental Protection Agency after it discovered 28 55-gallon barrels containing PCB buried beneath the building’s wood and concrete floor. The $240,000 cost of the cleanup is being paid by CSI and ATI Industries, which owns the building, officials say.