Hazardous Waste Cleanup to Begin : Environment: The $25-million project at a former Huntington Beach landfill should take 18 months. Evacuation plans are in place should they be necessary.

Starting next week, work crews will begin hauling out tons of hazardous waste buried at the former Ascon landfill, officials said Thursday.

The $25-million cleanup effort has been in the planning stages for seven years, and is expected to take 18 months to complete, said Allan Hirsch, spokesman for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The landowner is paying for the cleanup, which will involve dredging five ponds and one small pit containing between 7 million and 8 million gallons of petroleum sludge. The gunk will be broken down into a liquid and sucked through large hoses directly from the ground into vacuum trucks.

The trucks will haul much of the waste to various recycling centers to reuse the oil-based products. Other wastes will be deposited at hazardous waste dumps.

Residents and high school students next to the 38-acre toxic dump at Magnolia Street and Hamilton Avenue will be asked to tolerate additional noise, dust, petroleum odors and truck traffic during the waste removal.

The cleanup could result in the release of toxic gases as crews dig out 60 truckloads. Although that risk is remote, evacuation plans are in place for the neighboring residential areas and Edison High School, which is across the street from the dump, according to officials from state and city agencies monitoring the project.

“We really don’t imagine (an evacuation plan) will be necessary,” said Hirsch, whose agency is overseeing the cleanup. “But, obviously, we need to have a plan for every possibility. We want to make sure that people are aware (of the cleanup) and understand it, and that the work is being carefully controlled and supervised.”

In case of an emergency, residents and Edison’s 2,100 students would be taken by bus to a shelter set up at Huntington Beach High School. Edison High Principal Brian Garland said school officials have been told that the chance of a toxic cloud is “very, very remote.”

“I’m not a scientist, but from the city emergency services and the state monitoring plan, it appears that they are being as careful as they can to do it,” he said.

“As a resident of the community and from the standpoint of the school, I’m just glad to see they’re finally going to clean this up,” Garland said. “It’s an ugly, blighted eyesore . . . and it needs to be cleaned up.”

The dump is a major cleanup project for the state, but it is not on the federal Superfund list of the nation’s most hazardous dumping grounds. Orange County sites on the Superfund list are the McColl dump in Fullerton and the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station.

The Ascon toxic dump was operated by a variety of owners between 1938 and 1984. During its early years, it was the major dumping ground for oil-field wastes in the Huntington Beach area, when no dumping regulations existed.

During the latter years of operation, it was known as the Ascon landfill, a major dumping ground for asphalt and concrete wastes. Soon after the facility was closed, it was identified for cleanup by the state. The wastes, if left where they are, could pose a risk to area ground water or endanger migrating birds in nearby wetlands.

The owner, Ascon Properties Inc., had financial problems and was unable to proceed with the costly cleanup. Efforts finally got under way after the property was acquired by the NESI Investment Group in 1989.

NESI, a Lawndale developer, paid about $5 million for the land through a foreclosure sale after Ascon filed for bankruptcy. After cleaning up the site, the company plans to build up to 590 homes on the property, said NESI project manager Tom Mungari.

Throughout the cleanup work, foam will be sprayed to reduce emissions and air monitors will be set up to measure the level of toxic gases that may be released, said Wael Ibrahim, environmental manager for NESI’s cleanup team.

The gases that could be emitted include sulfur dioxide and benzene, which could cause respiratory problems.

Officials said they are confident the cleanup will go smoothly. But they acknowledge there may be unknown materials in the pits, which run as deep as 25 feet.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they found some surprises down there,” said Gary Gorman, an environmental biologist who serves on a 6-year-old Huntington Beach citizens’ committee monitoring the cleanup. “And the surprises are what we’re worried about.”

Nonetheless, Tom Poe, a battalion chief for the Huntington Beach Fire Department, said he is satisfied with the safety precautions.

“Everything is supposed to work, but sometimes it doesn’t. That’s what we’re here for,” he said.

Dredging a Dump Site Removal of up to 8 million gallons of oil wastes at this Huntington Beach dump site is expected to begin next week and last 18 months. Vacuum storage truck Power supply Hydraulic lines Vacuum hose Floating platform Petroleum sludge Hours of operation: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Trucks will begin leaving the site at 8:30 a.m. Operations will be suspended between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. to ease lunch-hour traffic. Security: Site will have a night security guard during the work. Contacts: * In case of emergency: dial 911 * 24-hour hotline for questions and complaints: (714) 840-8806 * To receive periodic updates in the mail, send name and address to: Public Participation Unit Kristin Stultz Andersen Department of Toxic Substances Control 245 West Broadway, Third Floor Long Beach, Calif. 90802 Source: State Department of Toxic Substances Control