Judge Orders Company to Cap Landfill Pit at Huntington Beach Site

A judge Wednesday ordered a partial cleanup of the Ascon landfill in Huntington Beach, calling for one pit there to be capped within two weeks.

Acting at the request of state health and anti-pollution agencies, Orange County Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour signed a preliminary injunction against Ascon Properties Inc., the firm that owns the site.

Officials of both the state Health Services Department and the South Coast Air Quality Management District said in a lawsuit filed last month that fumes from the pit pose a substantially serious public health threat.

Persons who inhale the increasingly strong odors regularly are threatened with nausea, general weakness, depression of the central nervous system, and eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation, state officials said in the lawsuit.

‘Recalcitrant Attitude’

The lawsuit accused the owners of the site of showing “a recalcitrant attitude” about resolving the problem.

At a court hearing Wednesday, Ascon lawyer Edgar E. Scheck said the firm would need time to cap the pit, but Seymour cut him short and set the two-week deadline.

Asked later whether the firm could comply with Seymour’s order, Scheck said, “Gosh, I’ve been around long enough to know that nothing happens in two weeks.”

The 37-acre dump at 21641 Magnolia St. is ringed by expensive homes. Two public schools--Edison Elementary and Edison High--are nearby.

The site, where oil wastes had been dumped since 1938, has not been an active landfill since 1984.

Cautious Optimism

Residents living near the dump expressed cautious optimism Wednesday about Seymour’s order, although several were skeptical about the ultimate result.

“We don’t want to say it’s wonderful until we see the cover on the pit,” said Sue Schweiger, who lives with her family next to the dump.

Schweiger said she moved in four years ago and had no idea the dump contained substances now classified as toxic.

Another nearby resident, Forrest Harrell, has lived in the area 22 years. His praise for the air quality management district was faint, comparing that agency’s action in the last month with what he called inaction by everybody else.

Harrell said: “The city doesn’t want to hear about it. The health department doesn’t want to hear about it. They (the AQMD) have responded, but it’s taken five years.”

A temporary solution to the problems posed by the pit that Seymour ordered capped could be achieved at relatively minor cost, according to Steven A. Levy, an AQMD investigator. A foam that hardens could be pumped on top of the pit, temporarily sealing it, Levy said, at a cost per application of $400 to $700.

The current concerns about the dump date back to July, when dozens of residents complained of new and more intense odors from the landfill.

In private negotiations, Ascon Vice President John Lindsey has “adamantly refused” to take action to address the odor problem, Levy said.

Ascon bought the dump in 1983. Lindsey has insisted that the state should take action against Shell Oil Co., which ran the dump for many years, rather than his firm, according to Levy.

Nearby residents and politicians have long complained about the dump and worried about the health effects of the waste buried there.

A report dated last June shows a list of hazardous materials at the dump that include styrene tar, chromic and sulfuric industrial wastes, lead, barium, nickel and copper. The report, attached to the lawsuit, was ordered by Ascon and prepared by Radian Corp.

The greatest threat to people, according to the report, is from inhalation of vapors and airborne particulate contaminants.

Site Dropped on List

The dump was placed on the California Superfund list of hazardous-waste sites in 1984. One year later, state officials dropped the site from 77th to 175th on the list, indicating that the seriousness of the hazard had been downgraded.

There have been cleanup negotiations between Ascon and the state, but no comprehensive cleanup is expected to begin before next year, according to Steve Tsumura of the state health department.

In the lawsuit against Ascon, $7.2 million in fines are being sought for alleged continuing violations of state air pollution law. The fines were not discussed Wednesday.