Pendleton Toxic Cleanup Pact OKd

An agreement to undertake the estimated $29.5-million cleanup of hazardous waste at Camp Pendleton was signed Wednesday by federal, state and military officials.

A joint effort will study the amount of environmental damage and remove contaminated material from the Marine Corps base, a major toxic site and the last large undeveloped coastal property in Southern California.

“We know there are pockets of contamination, but we don’t know the full extent,” said Terry Wilson, a spokesman for the federal Environmental Protection Agency which put the 48-year-old military base on its Superfund cleanup list last year.

While it is known that spent oils, solvents, pesticides, metals and PCBs are deposited at 22 areas throughout the 125,000-acre base, it will require a thorough investigation to learn the amount of waste and whether more areas are affected. So it remains unclear how much the cleanup will cost or when it might be done.

“They have indications there are two water wells believed to be contaminated by herbicides,” said Wilson, adding the wells haven’t been used since the discovery of toxins in 1980.

However, officials say there’s no evidence that hazardous materials pose a health risk to the civilian community or the 36,000 Marines who had been stationed at Camp Pendleton before an undisclosed number were deployed to the Middle East.

Allan Hirsch, spokesman for the state Department of Health Services, said “it should not present any sort of immediate health threat.”

Representatives of the EPA, state health department, and the Navy met Wednesday at the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro to sign three separate agreements for the cleanup of Camp Pendleton, El Toro and the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Barstow.

It was the first time the Marine Corps, which is part of the Department of the Navy, signed cleanup agreements in the EPA’s western region, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, according to the EPA.

Daniel McGovern, administrator for the EPA’s regional office in San Francisco, said the agreements “lay the foundation for the effective working relationships which will be crucial to cleaning up these sites expeditiously and in a manner fully protective of public health and the environment.”

Although in recent years the military has become increasingly active in studying its environmental problem, the agreements “are a declaration of our determination to work cooperatively to solve problems,” said Assistant Secretary of the Navy Jacqueline E. Schafer.

Initially, the extent of hazardous waste at Camp Pendleton will be studied, then a cleanup plan will be prepared before material is actually removed. Until the study is completed, it is impossible to know how long it will take to conclude.

“The remedial investigation is just beginning,” said Wilson, adding it could take anywhere from 18 months to three years to determine the amount of contamination.

It’s believed that Camp Pendleton’s wastes are deposited in landfills, drainage ditches, surface impoundments, scrap yards, pesticide equipment rinse areas, waste ponds for sewage treatment and other areas.

Most of the wastes were produced by vehicle fluids and solvents and base support activities such as the hospital, pest control, hobby shops and dry cleaning.

How much the federally-funded effort will cost is also a matter of estimation.

According to Hirsch, “best guess” figures provided by the military indicate it may cost $29.5 million for Camp Pendleton, including $3 million for the initial study and cleanup plan, $1.5 million to design special equipment, and $25 million for the actual cleanup.

Military estimates are $9.6 million for El Toro and $5.3 million for Barstow, he said.

The EPA is designated the lead agency for the cleanup programs while the state Department of Health Services will serve as liaison with local government.