State Plans for Toxic Waste Sites Outlined

The building that housed Metropolitan Circuits Inc. in Costa Mesa is set in a quintessential Southern California industrial neighborhood: a simple cluster of ordinary looking concrete buildings set off by sidewalks and landscaping.

At least from the outside.

After years of using highly toxic chemicals in the manufacture of printed circuit boards, the site at 1261 Logan Ave. is laden with enough heavy metals, solvents and other contaminants to be placed on the state’s $100-million Superfund cleanup list.

Of 423 sites on the state’s list, 10 locations in Orange County have been identified as hazardous or abandoned toxic waste sites, including one added last week, a Westminster housing tract built on an abandoned oil industry waste pit.

The state plans to spend an estimated $29.1 million on cleanup in the county over the next 15 to 20 years, said Robert Borzelleri, a spokesman for the state Department of Health Services’ toxic control division. That figure, Borzelleri said, does not include any cleanup costs to be paid by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is responsible for major hazardous sites and military bases.

The list includes such widely publicized sites as the abandoned McColl dump in Fullerton and an Anaheim auto salvage yard that contains a 50,000-ton mound of shredded automobile remnants contaminated with toxic levels of PCBs, a suspected carcinogen.

But also included are such little-known sites as Metropolitan Circuits and a wood-molding manufacturer in the City of Orange. Although state health officials say residents who live near these sites have little to worry about, some city officials and residents expressed surprise at learning of these sites within their borders.

Delays and deletions of sites on the list have caused some surprise and confusion to city officials in Huntington Beach and Orange.

“Continental Moulding is on the plan? I don’t think we knew that,” said John Loertscher, sanitation supervisor for the City of Orange, who also is in charge of monitoring potentially toxic sites in that city.

Continental Moulding, a 12-acre former wood-molding production plant, operated near the corner of Batavia Street and Taft Avenue for 30 years. The site had been contaminated with highly toxic pentachlorophenol (PCP), a chemical wood preservative used on door jamb moldings to protect against mildew. It has since been cleaned, but it remains on the Superfund list as an open case while the state seeks recovery of cleanup costs, state health officials said.

In Huntington Beach, City Engineer Les Evans said he was caught off guard recently after being told incorrectly by a co-worker that three hazardous sites, not one, as he believed, existed within the city’s borders.

“I found that out recently. It was the first time I had heard of the two other sites being on the list,” Evans said.

Actually, according to state health officials, only Ascon Landfill, a 37-acre former dump at 21641 Magnolia St., remains on the state Superfund list. Industrial and oil field wastes were disposed at the site from 1938 to 1971. It is now ringed by expensive homes.

Court Order

A Superior Court judge recently ordered the former landfill operators to partially clean up the site by capping a pit. The landfill was closed in 1984.

But Evans and city planning officials admitted there is some confusion on the city’s part over two former sites--the Bruce Brothers Pit at 7212 Talbert Ave. and an old sand quarry at Taylor Drive and Golden West Street. Although the two were bought by the city in 1972, filled and turned into parks, both were included by a local realty board in a recent widely circulated notice about hazardous waste sites, they said.

“I have no idea how we get those things off the list,” Evans said.

In the Westminster tract that is the most recent Orange County addition to the state Superfund list, Debra Ellis and other residents have expressed concern about the environmental danger of a tarlike toxic sludge that has seeped into their backyards and swimming pools. But she was pleased that her neighborhood had made the list.

“Even if it takes five years or so to clean this up, it’s still good news. We’re happy that we’re included on the list,” Ellis said.

Property Values Fell

Yet, once the sludge was determined to be toxic and gained widespread attention, “property values fell by about $15,000 to $20,000,” said one real estate agent knowledgeable with Westminster property values. “Quite frankly, living near any identified hazardous waste site on the (Superfund) list is not good,” said the agent, who asked not to be identified.

Knowing about Superfund sites is extremely important to the county’s estimated 11,000 agents and brokers, who are legally required to disclose any material fact affecting the value of a property, said Judy Severy, vice president for public affairs of the Board of Realtors of Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.

In the case of Metropolitan Circuits, state studies have found that there is a potential for ground water contamination. Officials note that the site is located next to the Paularino flood control channel that drains to Upper Newport Bay.

State officials said the spillage apparently occurred in a dipping process, using huge vats in which highly toxic chemicals were stored.

“Metropolitan was once ranked 45th among 93 statewide sites listed in 1984,” said Costa Mesa Fire Marshal Thomas Macduff, who said Metropolitan has relocated to Santa Ana and that the building is now occupied by another company manufacturing the same type of product.

But Metropolitan’s owners still are liable for cleanup costs, Borzelleri said.

State Claims Rejected

Metropolitan has rejected the state’s claims but already has hired a contractor for preliminary cleanup costs, according to a business associate of the company’s who asked not to be identified. The associate said Metropolitan has spent an estimated $34,000, far less than the $530,000 figure the state has projected to clean up the site.

“I would say the problem is insignificant to what the state claims. And I know for a fact that Metropolitan has been trying in earnest to resolve the problem over the past three years,” said Larry Velie, owner of Velie Circuits Co., which now occupies the site.

Metropolitan’s president Albert E. Puhlman Jr., did not respond to repeated inquiries made at the company’s Santa Ana office.

The Metropolitan site was evaluated by state officials, and was given a ranking score of 16.9 on a scale of 100.

By contrast, the abandoned McColl dump in Fullerton, where an estimated 200,000 tons of acrid-smelling, tar-like sludge was found--including volatile petroleum hydrocarbons and benzene, a cancer-causing substance--was given a score of 45.94.

The ranking system is used to weight the potential hazard posed to humans and wildlife, to air quality and water quality, depending on the type of contamination. A site that receives a ranking score of 28.5 or greater could be eligible for the federal Superfund list overseen by the EPA.

The McColl site, for example, is on both the federal and state Superfund lists for eventual cleanup. In fact, the state alone plans to spend $10 million in cleanup costs, state health officials said.

Another site high on the list for cleanup is the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, which has 17 potential contaminated areas within its borders. The base was ranked second to McColl dump in terms of environmental hazard, with a score of 41.98.

But the base declined to elaborate, saying through a spokeswoman that “we have not been notified nor are we in receipt of any Superfund list and, therefore, cannot comment,” Lt. Shawn Cooper said.

State health and federal officials, who intend to monitor cleanup at the base, said their concern is over surface and ground water contamination from pesticides, PCBs (or polychlorinated biphenyls), lead, gasoline, paint residues, diesel fuel, radioisotopes, and acids that historically were disposed of improperly at the facility.

TOXIC WASTE IN ORANGE COUNTY The 10 sites, cleanup dates and projected costs, are:

1. McColl Site

2650 Rosecrans Ave., Fullerton

LAND USE: Used in 1942-1946 for disposing of acid wastes from the World War II production of aviation fuel.

WASTES: Benzene, toluene, xylene, acetone, hexane, sulfuric acid, arsenic and sulfur dioxide.

ENVIRONMENTAL THREAT: Air emissions of volatile petroleum hydrocarbons and toxic gases. Ground water contamination.

HAZARDOUS RANKING SCORE: 45.94

ESTIMATED CLEANUP COST: $100 million in state and federal funds.

COMPLETION DATE: 2007

2. El Toro Marine Corps Air Station

LAND USE: Military base.

WASTES: PCBs, radioisotopes, acids and solvents.

THREAT: Human and wildlife exposure. Contamination of surface and ground water.

SCORE: 41.98

COST: $100,000 in state funds.

COMPLETION: 1995

3. Metropolitan Circuits

1261 Logan Ave., Costa Mesa

LAND USE: Printed circuit-board manufacturer.

WASTES: Solvents, heavy metals including copper, lead, cobalt, arsenic, cadmium, zinc and chromium.

THREAT: Ground water and potable water sources. Site is located next to the Paularino Channel which eventually drains into Upper Newport Bay.

SCORE: 16.9

COST: $530,000

COMPLETION: 1992

4. Orange County Steel Salvage

3200 E. Frontera Road, Anaheim

USE: Auto salvage yard.

WASTES: 50,000-ton mountain of auto shredder wastes with high levels of soluble heavy metals and PCBs.

THREAT: Contamination of drinking water.

SCORE: 16.12

COST: $18.2 million

COMPLETION: 2002

5. Westminster Housing

Tract No. 2633

Corner of Sowell Avenue and Golden West Street, just east of the San Diego Freeway (I-405).

USE: Oil field wastes dumped during the 1930s through 1950s. Sump then covered with concrete and dirt by a developer who built homes on top in late 1950s.

WASTES: Low levels of benzene, toluene and xylene.

THREAT: Ground water contamination.

SCORE: 14-15

COST: Unavailable

COMPLETION: Unavailable

6. Continental Moulding Facility

Corner of Batavia Street and Taft Avenue in Orange.

USE: Former manufacturer treated door jamb mouldings with PCP to increase their resistance to mildew, then later cleaned site. State trying to recover some testing costs.

WASTES: Minor PCP contamination.

THREAT: None at this time.

SCORE: 0.0

COST: $50,000

COMPLETION: 1989

7. Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station

USE: Military weapons base.

WASTES: Major quantities of hazardous wastes were improperly disposed of on the site.

THREAT: Solvents, spent fuels, heavy metals, explosives, and pesticides.

SCORE: Unavailable pending studies but given high priority by EPA.

COST: $100,000 (from the state).

COMPLETION: Unavailable

8. Ascon Landfill

21641 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach.

USE: Industrial and oil field wastes were dumped at the site from 1938 to 1971.

WASTES: Hydrazine, nitric acid and chromic and sulfuric industrial wastes, fuel oil, styrene tar, aluminum slag, and corrosives.

THREAT: Human exposure that can cause nausea, general weakness, depression of the central nervous system, and eye, skin and respiratory tract irritation. Also, ground water contamination due to proximity of the Huntington Beach and Talbert channels which border the site.

SCORE: 0.98

COST: $70,000

COMPLETION: 1991

9. Tustin Marine Corps Air Station

USE: Military air base.

WASTES: Oil solvents, paints, paint thinners, battery acids, and other chemical wastes were found on seven of a total of 14 potentially contaminated areas.

THREAT: Human and wildlife exposure. Contamination to surface and ground water.

SCORE: 0.00

COST: $100,000

(state funds only).

COMPLETION: Unavailable

10. Phil’s Custom Plating

1214 West 1st St., Santa Ana

USE: Metal plating shop.

WASTES: Heavy metals.

THREAT: Residual contamination of the pavement and probably the soil with toxic metals. Wastes may include cyanide and corrosive metals.

SCORE: Site is small and information on hazardous ranking, completion date and cleanup costs are expected in a later edition of the expenditure plan.

COST: Unavailable

COMPLETION: Unavailable

Glossary

Benzene is a colorless to light yellow liquid that gives off an aromatic odor. It is a suspected carcinogen and is moderately toxic when ingested, inhaled and absorbed through the skin. It is flammable and a dangerous fire risk. Under state health laws, benzene is not supposed to be found in drinking water, or in water that eventually finds its way to drinking water, at more than seven-tenths (.7) of a part per billion.

Toluene is a colorless liquid, with an aromatic odor. It is used in aviation gasoline and high-octane blending stock. And as a solvent for paints and coatings, gums, resins, rubber and most oils. It is also used in explosives. Toluene also is toxic if ingested, inhaled and absorbed through the skin. It is flammable and a dangerous fire risk.

Xylene is a clear liquid, that is soluble in alcohol and ether but insoluble in water. It too is used in aviation gasoline, protective coatings, and as a solvent for lacquers, enamels, and rubber cements. Xylene is toxic by ingestion and inhalation. It is flammable and a moderate fire risk.

PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) are highly toxic colorless liquids and potential carcinogens that may accumulate in animal systems. Because of their persistence and ecological damage from water pollution, their manufacture was discontinued in the United States in 1976.

PCP (pentachlorophenol) which is highly toxic by ingestion. Used in fungicide, bactericide, algaecide and herbicide. Also as a wood preservative for telephone poles and pilings.

Sulfur dioxide is a colorless gas or liquid with a sharp pungent odor. It is toxic by inhalation and a strong irritant to eyes and mucous membranes. Used in chemicals and for ore and metal refining, bleaching agent for oils and starch, disinfecting and fumigating and a food additive.

Hydrazine, a colorless liquid, is highly volatile and explosive. Highly toxic by ingestion, inhalation and skin absorption. Strong irritant to skin and eyes. Used in rocket propellants, agricultural chemicals, plymerizatino catalyst, plating metals on glass and plastics and other uses.

Radioisotopes are naturally or artificially radioactive. They are used as curative agents in medicine, in biological tracer studies and for many industrial purposes.

Source: The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 10th Edition.

How to Get a Hazardous Ranking Score

To qualify for the state’s Superfund, a site goes through an evaluation with site examiners who look for types of hazardous waste, possible exposure to humans and other animals, air quality, and migration into soil and water.

Each site then is given a ranking score, from 1 to 100, which is weighted for a higher score should drinking water be contaminated or exposure of toxic chemicals to humans is high.

If a site receives a hazardous ranking score of about 28.5 or higher, it could be put on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund cleanup list.