State Orders Cleanup of Old Gardena Dump Site

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control has ordered the cleanup of a 6.5-acre Gardena site used decades ago as a dump site for waste oil from local refineries.

The order requires the property’s owners, one refinery and others to immediately begin monitoring the ground water at the site, located at the southwest corner of Artesia Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. The order also requires that a cleanup program be initiated.

State spokesman Allan Hirsch said the order follows an investigation last fall that confirmed that the property contains acidic and toxic substances, including benzene, that were believed to have been dumped at the site from about 1939 to 1947.

The cleanup order names Clarence and Genevieve Haack, who own the property’s western half, and Thomas Cooper, who owns the vacant east end of the property. An attorney for the Haacks said they do not believe they are responsible for cleanup because its contamination occurred before they bought the property.

Cooper said he intends to cooperate with authorities in cleaning the property even though its contamination predates his ownership. “I think we should all cooperate to get this (cleanup) done,” he said, indicating that he will work on a resource recovery program.

Also named in the order were Southern Pacific Transportation Co. and the county’s Department of Public Works, which own parcels or easements within the site; Aircraft Magnesium Co., which operates at the site, and Atlantic Richfield Co., which the state claims generated hazardous substances dumped at the site.