EPA to Begin Probes in Subdivision

In the 1960s, black globs of toxic waste began seeping into the back yards of a neighborhood here. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is about to take the first step toward resolving the decades-old problem.

Beginning Monday, teams hired by the EPA will conduct an exploratory excavation in the subdivision, which has qualified for the national Superfund list. About 25 back yards in the neighborhood, which is near Golden West Street at the San Diego Freeway, sit atop trenches containing 60-year-old oil refinery waste.

EPA spokesman David Schmidt said next week’s exploratory dig will be the first step toward deciding on the best option for cleaning up the pits.

The tests will allow the EPA to learn more about the waste’s characteristics, evaluate whether systems for controlling fumes would work during a large-scale excavation and analyze whether recycling is possible.

The work is expected to take about a week. Using a small backhoe, the crew will dig a trench about two feet wide, three feet long and one foot deep in a vacant lot at the southeast corner of Sowell Avenue and Golden West Street. The trench will then be gradually enlarged by similar-size increments.

Schmidt said an extensive array of air monitors will be set up to check for fumes released by the digging. If hazardous emissions are detected, the EPA plans to shut down the work, cover the waste and evacuate the neighborhood, if necessary.

The waste was originally dumped in the area in the 1930s and 1940s. In 1959, a developer moved it into trenches behind Sowell Avenue and between Kathy and Allen streets so homes could be built.

Reports of waste seeping into yards started in the 1960s, but city authorities did not think the problem was serious and told people to build cement patios over it. It was not until the mid-1980s that local officials discovered that the waste is highly acidic and reported it to the state Department of Health Services, which investigated.

The tarlike material has been seeping into many of the back yards, swimming pools, patios and storm channels in the 73-house neighborhood, which is home to about 250 residents.

The acidic, petroleum-based materials could cause skin irritation or burns if touched. Residents have also been warned to avoid eating home-grown produce from yards where seepage occurs.

Last year, the EPA announced that the site qualified for the federal Superfund list of the worst hazardous-waste dumps in the nation. The listing is expected to become effective this spring.

The EPA will choose a cleanup option sometime this year, Schmidt said. The federal government must decide whether to remove the waste and haul it at a hazardous-waste disposal site or treat it on site.

The agency has not found a company or other private party responsible for the waste, so the project will be funded with Superfund money, derived from a federal tax on industry. A developer and a trucking company involved in the original disposal have been out of business for decades.

Schmidt said the inability to fix blame may actually speed up the cleanup. “We haven’t yet found a responsible party, and that means we don’t have to try to convince them to pay for it. We can just go in and do it,” he said.

Some sites have been on the Superfund list for years, with no activity. Included is the McColl dump in Fullerton, which has been on the federal list for more than eight years with no cleanup plans finalized.