Hazardous Waste Found in Escondido

Large quantities of potentially hazardous waste have been uncovered during the expansion of a utility substation in Escondido, San Diego Gas & Electric announced Thursday.

SDG&E; said it has hauled away “in the neighborhood of 100 truckloads” of residual ash from a site at 3rd Avenue and Spruce Street where a gas manufacturing plant was operated from 1909 to 1936.

“What we’ve hauled away so far has gone to hazardous waste sites in California and Utah,” SDG&E; spokesman John Britton said.

Britton said the ash contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and low levels of ferrocyanides. Tests are still continuing, but Britton said SDG&E; believes that the site poses no immediate danger to the public.

“A person would have to eat a bunch of this stuff or lie around in it” for any harm to be done, Britton said.

Britton said both city and county officials have been notified, but neither could be reached for comment.

The substation, in an industrial area of Escondido next to Westside Park, was purchased by SDG&E; in 1916. The ash is thought to be a by-product of the process used to convert oil into gas.