The State - News from Nov. 30, 1988

Residents may be asked to pay for the cleanup of residue from a bungled experiment by a citizens group designed to prove that chemicals sprayed into the atmosphere at the Stringfellow acid pits poisoned the community. The 12-hour experiment last May called for spraying a harmless liquid fertilizer at Stringfellow to see if it would blow into the Riverside County community of Glen Avon, about a mile away. But the state Department of Health Services shut down the test designed to support the citizens group’s lawsuit when it was discovered that the fertilizer was laced with toxic metals. The metals have polluted a 6,500-square-foot portion of the dirt cover atop Stringfellow. The contaminated soil must be removed and taken to another hazardous waste dump, said Beth Jines, a state hazardous materials specialist. No cost estimate was available. But federal Superfund money allocated to clean up Stringfellow will probably not be used to clean up the mess unless the citizens group refuses to pay, she said.