Church and State Battle Over Paying for Cleanup of Toxic Dump : Church and State Battle Over Paying for Cleanup of Toxic Dump

Cleanup costs for an illegal toxic waste dump discovered in the Century Freeway construction zone and near a Catholic school could run as high as $30 million, and the church may have to pay a share of the costs, state officials said Friday.

The levels of lead, copper and other heavy metals found in the dump near the St. Frances X. Cabrini Catholic Church and parish school exceed state health standards, California Department of Transportation engineers said.

Part of the site, located in South-Central Los Angeles, is on land that once belonged to the Catholic archdiocese, so state officials want the church to bear some cleanup costs.

That bit of news angered the parish priest who has been fighting with Caltrans to get the state to haul away a mountain of dirt it has stored on the construction site.

“They are trying to intimidate us by saying they’ll put the onus of (toxic waste) removal on the church,” said Father David O’Connell. “We didn’t dump the toxins there . . . (but) if they want to go the legal route, we can go that way too.”

Fighting back, the priest called a press conference Friday to demand that the state remove the 150,000 cubic yards of dirt piled on the site and clean up the toxic wastes. He said the toxic wastes posed a health threat to children attending the parish school, a contention the state denied.

A top Caltrans official countered by accusing the cleric of stirring up trouble.

“He’s trying to intimidate us, “ said Caltrans engineer Charles O’Connell, who is no relation to the priest. “This is classic social activism. He’s called a press conference and invited in elected officials (to a community meeting Friday night) . . We’re the lambs being led to slaughter.”

The dirt mountain and illegal toxic waste dump are on a large parcel of vacant land south of Imperial Highway, between Normandie and Western avenues, that was acquired by the state in the 1970s for the $2-billion Century Freeway project.

The state stockpiled dirt for fill behind the church on two parcels acquired from the church and a private owner. But the dirt was not needed.

A deep ravine that crosses the two parcels had apparently been used as unapproved trash dumping for decades, state officials said.

Under current plans, the Century Freeway will cut through the dirt mountain and the old trash dump. Tests revealed that levels of the heavy metals in the dump exceed state safety standards, but are within the more tolerant safety limits set by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, state engineers said.

Test borings revealed that the highest levels of lead--300 parts per million--were found layered deep in the dump, but still were 100 feet above the water table, they reported. State safety standards are 5 p.p.m. The levels of copper, zinc and other heavy metals were also high, but well within federal safety limits, according to Caltrans engineer Paul In.

He said the buried toxic wastes do not pose a health hazard where they are, but when they are dug up they will have to be removed to an approved hazardous waste dump.

Father O’Connell said his church could not afford to help with the cleanup. “The church here is very poor,” he said. “But if they want a fight on this, we will have to fight.”