Escondido

Toxic waste at the six-acre Chatham Brothers site has contaminated the underground water supply directly beneath the center of the property, and significantly less amounts of it have been detected at the property’s boundary, state health experts said.

The site, in the 2200 block of Bernardo Avenue, was identified in 1981 as a hazardous-waste site, after having been used 30 years as a chemical recycling yard.

Megan Cambridge, project manager for the state Department of Health Services, said on-site testing conducted in July and August showed 38 parts per million of volatile organic compounds in a monitoring well in the middle of the site, directly beneath where a trench filled with barrels of sludge was uncovered during testing this summer.

She said 3 parts per million of volatile organic compounds were detected at the edge of the site.

Because the underground water at the site’s edge showed signs of slight contamination, Cambridge said, it is possible that a measurable but lesser amount of toxins has contaminated the underground water supply downstream from the site. But, she said, there is no evidence that the toxic waste has entered Felicita Creek or Lake Hodges and previous testing has shown that neither the creek nor the lake has been tainted.

Cambridge said additional off-site testing will be conducted to determine to what degree, and in what direction, any off-site contamination may have occurred.

Health officials also found what they characterized as insignificant levels of PCBs on property across the street from the site and said they believed it got there from rain run-off from the toxic site. County health experts said there is “absolutely no health risk” to the residents of the area.

The testing done so far is to determine how much the property is contaminated and how best to clean it up with state funds.