Irvine Tests Reveal Toxic in Soil and Groundwater

High levels of a potentially toxic chemical have been found in the soil and groundwater at a former industrial site in Irvine, and tests are being conducted to determine if the contamination could spread to drinking-water supplies.

Soil and groundwater samples collected from the site of a former underground storage tank at 2567 Main St. two months ago showed concentrations of Trichloroethylene or TCE to be 40 to 80 times higher than the level considered acceptable in drinking water, Robert E. Merryman, director of environmental health for the Orange County Health Care Agency, said Friday.

TCE, a solvent used in metal-cleaning operations, causes skin and eye irritations and can be toxic if ingested in high concentrations, Merryman said.

None Found in September

No TCE contamination was found in drinking-water wells within one mile of the site during routine testing by the county in September, Merryman said.

Tests conducted in November by the former site owner, Robert A. Alleborn, also showed no drinking-water contamination, but regional water-quality officials were not satisfied with those results and ordered more detailed tests.

“Contaminated groundwater reaching drinking-water supplies could pose a threat to health,” Merryman said. “The owner has been asked to install a monitoring well that will determine if TCE is flowing away from the area where the tank was and if it is spreading.”

Consultants hired by Alleborn conducted the tests that turned up the TCE contamination in the soil and groundwater two months ago and reported it to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, Kurt Berchtold, the board’s senior engineer, said.

Alleborn was required to test the soil because, at the time, he was attempting to sell the property, Berchtold said.

Those tests showed contamination levels of 400 parts per billion in the soil and the 210 parts per billion in the underlying groundwater, Merryman said. Levels over 5 parts per billion are considered unsafe in drinking water, he said.

Says Site Has Been Cleaned

Alleborn, a Newport Beach businessman, said the site has been cleaned. The tank, which had been used to store oil, was removed from the site last February.

“Someone spilled some solvent on the ground and it went into the soil. It’s such a minor thing. We did the investigation ourselves . . . and found the material. The spill was no larger than a table top, probably about five gallons,” Alleborn said.

Berchtold said officials are still monitoring the situation, and that Alleborn has until Jan. 28 to complete the new tests and turn in a report.

“Our concern is whether or not we are seeing the worst part of the problem there. We have no indication how widespread the problem might be,” Berchtold said.

Neither Alleborn nor the water quality officials have determined when the spill occurred. Under law, the board can hold the operator of the facility, the property owner or both liable for the cleanup. In this case, officials have dealt solely with Alleborn, Berchtold said.

Alleborn said that he purchased the property in 1984 and that he sold it last year to a party he refused to identify. Control Components Inc., a company that manufactures pressure-control valves, formerly leased the property from Alleborn. That company moved to Rancho Santa Margarita, and the building now houses a company that manufactures T-shirts, Alleborn said.

The county is required by law to disclose all leaks of underground storage tanks that could endanger public health. Merryman said there are about 350 storage-tank leaks under investigation in the county. Most of them involve tanks that hold gasoline.