FILLMORE : Comment Sought on Toxic Site Cleanup

Fillmore area residents who live near an abandoned oil refinery can comment tonight on a proposed plan to clean up and monitor contaminated soil and ground water at the site, Environmental Protection Agency officials said.

The EPA, which has designated the site for Superfund cleanup, proposes to extract contaminated ground water, treat it with carbon and return the water to the underground basin.

The cleanup proposal, one of seven options considered, includes a plan to monitor the soil for one year to determine whether natural soil organisms can break down the hazardous compounds.

The EPA seeks residents’ responses to the proposal at a public hearing at 7 tonight at San Cayetano Elementary School, 514 Mountain View St. in Fillmore.

Texaco operated the refinery at the site near the elementary school from 1920 to 1950, depositing wastes in an unlined pit, EPA officials said.

Contamination was first discovered at the site in 1980.

Six years later, Texaco excavated about 38,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and drilled wells to monitor the spread of toxins through ground water.

Suspected cancer-causing agents such as benzene, arsenic and cadmium are among 40 potentially harmful chemicals found at the site, a 1991 EPA study found.

But in a report mailed to area residents last month, EPA officials emphasized that potential health risks are within acceptable standards and pose a minor health hazard to the public.

People who are unable to attend tonight’s meeting may write to the EPA, attention Michael Montgomery, Remedial Project Manager, 75 Hawthorne St. (H-7-1) San Francisco 94105.

The public comment period ends March 20.