Research Fails to Find Serious Health Risks at Toxic Sites

An extensive state study has found no sign of increased levels of cancer, pregnancy problems, birth defects or death among residents living near two toxic waste sites southwest of the junction of the San Diego and Harbor freeways.

But the study, released last week by the state Department of Health Services, found that residents did experience sore throats, skin and eye irritation, which may be caused by nearby oil refineries and chemical plants. And it said the lack of increased cancers was expected because of the lag time for developing the disease.

The epidemiological study was begun in 1984 after residents complained of health problems that they believed were caused by the Del Amo and Montrose toxic waste sites in Los Angeles, just east of Torrance.

The Montrose Chemical Corp. site, where the pesticide DDT was manufactured from 1947 though the 1970s, has been targeted for placement on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s Superfund list of the highest priority toxic waste sites in the nation.

Banned in 1972

DDT, which is suspected of causing cancer in humans and damages the reproduction of wildlife, was banned in the United States in 1972.

Extensive DDT contamination of soil and ground water has been found on the 13-acre Montrose property, which runs west from Normandie Avenue north of 203rd Street. The ground-water contamination is nearly 50 times the California threshold level, and federal authorities said their testing has found evidence of DDT contamination spreading south and east of the site. The nearby six-acre Del Amo toxic waste site, which extends from Normandie Avenue to Vermont Avenue north of Del Amo Avenue, was used in the manufacture of synthetic rubber and ethylene from the 1940s to 1973.

The epidemiological study was conducted to determine whether the two waste sites are affecting the health of residents in nearby single- and multifamily dwellings. More than 1,030 adults and 450 children were covered by the study, which was based on the results of an extensive health questionnaire.

The study found that residents of the Del Amo and Montrose areas have “not reported elevated rates or unusual patterns” of cancer, pregnancy problems such as miscarriages or low birth-weight babies, birth defects or death.

But the study also noted that the finding on cancer rates was not a surprise because the average length of residence in the study area was only six years.

“Since the lag time between exposure and the appearance of environmentally caused cancers is generally 15 to 20 years,” the study said, “we would not expect this survey to detect increased cancer rates. . . .”

A greater than expected number of cases of liver disease were reported but the disparity could have occurred by chance, the study said.

Residents living south and southwest of the two toxic sites did report higher than expected levels of skin, eye and throat irritation compared to residents of another area farther to the southeast. Some of those symptoms tended to be elevated only among residents who detected odors in their neighborhood. The odors were described as sewer, chemical, refinery, dump site and factory smells.

The study concluded that the sore throats, skin and eye irritation may not necessarily be a result of the presence of the toxic waste sites. Instead, it suggested that “other sources of chemical contamination in the area,” including oil refineries and a chemical manufacturing plant, may be responsible.

A community meeting to discuss the results of the study will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium at Van Deen Elementary School, 826 W. Javelin St., Torrance. Copies of the study can be reviewed at the Torrance and Carson public libraries.

Cleanup plans have not been finished for either site. For the past five years, the Montrose property has drawn the attention of federal officials concerned about DDT contamination in the soil and ground water. The state is in charge of the Del Amo cleanup.

Johanna Miller, remedial project manager for the EPA’s regional office in San Francisco, said wells drilled on the Montrose site have shown “fairly high concentrations of DDT and solvents associated with the manufacture of DDT” in ground water.

Miller said test results from a shallow well found 4,975 parts per billion in the ground water, nearly 50 times the California threshold level of 100 parts per billion for water.

Additional drilling is planned to test for deeper and wider ground-water contamination. Soil contamination has been found to a depth of 60 feet, Miller said.

The EPA required Montrose to place an asphalt cover over the property in 1985 as a temporary measure while tests were conducted to determine the extent of the soil and ground-water contamination.

Miller said the EPA has evidence that the DDT contamination extends south and east beyond the boundaries of the site in both soil and ground water. The agency plans to require Montrose to place a temporary asphalt cap in the area outside a perimeter fence that carries yellow and black signs warning the public to keep out.

Montrose stored hazardous waste from the DDT manufacturing process in a waste settling and recycling pond that was at least 30 feet deep, the report said.

Before 1970, Montrose dumped DDT and other liquid waste into a sewer line that fed the joint water pollution control plant of the Los Angeles Sanitation District, which drained into Los Angeles Harbor.

After 1980, the waste was switched to a landfill at Rolling Hills Estates, the report said, which lowered the amount of DDT going into the sewer plant from 638 pounds a day to just under 9 pounds a day.

The site was first investigated in 1982. “EPA determined that human contact with contaminated soils and water was a potential threat and issued a cleanup and abatement order,” the report said.

The EPA proposed Montrose for inclusion on the national priority list in October, 1984, but the actual cleanup has still not begun.

“The Superfund process generally is a long one,” Miller said. “We need to know how much we’re going to have to clean up and how far the contamination has gone.”

Chemical testing by the state at the Del Amo site revealed “high levels of naphthalene, styrene and polystyrene.”

In December, 1983, further sampling in the back yards of nearby residences detected high levels of chromium.