Delay in McColl Cleanup Is Frustrating : * But Important Thing Is That Site Be Cleaned Up, Once and For All

The Fullerton neighbors of the McColl dump must feel as if the long-awaited Superfund cleanup of the site will never get under way. Now there is another delay as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency weighs the effect of new laws requiring more public review of cleanup proposals. No final decision will be made until 1993 on what method to use.

The EPA insists that this delay is unavoidable if there is ever to be a complete and permanent cleanup of McColl. If so, the EPA has a lot of persuading to do. It’s hard to imagine a site that has been more studied than McColl, or what could possibly take 2 1/2 years more to do.

In calling for the delay, the EPA is trying to dot all its i’s and cross all its ts so as to avoid a lengthy court challenge of its preferred cleanup method, which would involve complete incineration of all contaminated soil. That challenge would undoubtedly come from the oil companies that the EPA says are responsible for dumping 150,000 pounds of aviation fuel waste on the site--legally, by the way--during World War II. Fumes from the once-remote site have been blamed for headaches, nausea and respiratory problems among residents of the surrounding neighborhoods.

In making its case for moving back the cleanup, the EPA must inform residents about its reasoning. As for residents, putting off the cleanup is frustrating, but that doesn’t mean they should succumb to appeals by the oil companies responsible for the wastes that the site be capped. Capping would be quicker, and would cost an estimated $22 million, as opposed to $117 million for soil incineration, but it would leave the cleanup to future generations at an even higher cost.

The important thing is that the site be cleaned up, once and for all, even if it may take some more frustrating waiting until that happens.