VENTURA : Officials Identify Spilled Substance

Three hundred gallons of a substance spilled near the Ventura Harbor last month was identified Wednesday as a flammable, slightly toxic compound used in sewage treatment, officials said.

The spill, under investigation by county prosecutors, has not been cleaned up, said Carol Green, a Ventura city official. Green said the city is still reviewing bids from two firms offering to clean up the spill, which was first reported by the county Department of Environmental Health on March 9.

The substance spilled is a polymer called Clarifloc C-310, a coagulant that “conditions the sludge” and makes solids in sewage stick together to ease filtration of impurities from waste water, said Daniel E. Rayburn, superintendent of the nearby city waste-water treatment plant.

Rayburn said he has no information about the chemical properties of C-310 and does not know whether any sewage was in the spill at 1400 Spinnaker Drive, close to the treatment plant.

Green said the city’s cleanup proposal first has to be approved by the Department of Environmental Health, the Regional Water Quality Control Board and state environmental agencies. The spill site is roped off but is not accessible to the public, he said.