Interim Plan for McColl Applauded and Criticized

State and federal officials unveiled a program Tuesday night designed to contain toxic waste at the McColl dump for five years until a permanent solution is found, but they received a mixed reaction from residents of the Fullerton neighborhood bordering the site.

Officials of the state Department of Health Services and the federal Environmental Protection Agency called the public meeting at Parks Junior High School in Fullerton to explain to residents a $2- to $3-million project that they said will contain the waste and reduce the unpleasant odor.

They proposed putting a several-layer cap on the site, with the top level landscaped. They said they would begin design work on the program this year, with construction beginning in early 1989.

Officials also presented a schedule for action on the site that places a permanent solution to the contamination as far off as 1995.

“We’re not happy to be telling you it will be years until the site is remedied, but we want to be up front with you,” said Angelo Bellomo, the chief of the state’s toxic substances control division for Southern California.

The plan, with its timetable, “gives me hope” said Betty Porras, a 9-year resident of the area and co-chairwoman of the McColl Community Action Group. “And hope is something we haven’t had for a long time.”

She said she was confident that the environmental agencies would follow their timetable. But some residents remained skeptical.

“It’s the same story we’ve heard before. We’re just getting another report,” said Edan Worthy, a 10-year resident of the area. “Come back in five years and it will be new and different faces, but the same old question.”

The five oil companies identified as responsible for the refinery waste dumped at the McColl site submitted a plan last year to contain the dump’s wastes by building underground walls to prevent movement of the hazardous materials.

Spokesman William J. Duchie said the $12.5-million plan proposed by the companies could provide interim protection to nearby residents while the EPA and the state studied more permanent solutions.

The oil companies’ plan would result in the dump being capped, then covered by a lawn, over which such facilities as playgrounds and golf courses could be built.