County Resists Push to Test for Toxic Waste at Old Dump Site : Health: State officials say the former Hawthorne Canyon Landfill, which now lies under 10 homes, may be dangerous.

State toxic waste experts and county dump operators are battling over who is responsible for the old Hawthorne Canyon Landfill, which state officials say may pose a health hazard to residents of an upscale neighborhood in Rolling Hills Estates.

The state is trying to force the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts to conduct tests to determine if it contains dangerous substances that “may pose a (health) hazard” to nearby residents. If a danger is found, the state wants the county to clean up the site.

County sanitation officials, however, have refused to comply, maintaining that the state has no authority to issue such orders.

The small canyon dump was sealed and covered decades ago and now lies under the back yards of 10 homes on Moccasin Lane, just off Hawthorne Boulevard. As dump wastes slowly decomposed, parts of the back yards began sinking and gases seeped out of cracks and holes, according to homeowners in the area.

In tests conducted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District earlier this year, noxious levels of methane gas and traces of cancer-causing chemicals like vinyl chloride were detected in the gases, but experts said they pose no immediate health hazards.

Officials say no one is certain just what kinds of wastes were dumped in the landfill a quarter of a century ago, nor is it clear who should be liable for cleaning up the dump if that becomes necessary.

Both the county and the city disclaim any liability.

Homeowners, who have threatened to sue both the city and the county, say they were unaware of the sealed-over garbage dump when they bought their land. State toxic control officials contend that the dump may be hazardous and are continuing to push the county to drill test holes and take samples.

“We need to find out what’s under there. We want the sanitation districts to see if there is a health risk,” said Daniel Weingarten, staff attorney for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

The sanitation districts did fill and cap the old Hawthorne Canyon dump in the late 1960s, they said, but they note that the job was done legally under an agreement with the city. The county no longer has any responsibility for the site, they said.

Homeowners have contended that the canyon was supposed to have been filled with compacted dirt, not garbage, said attorney Ronald Beck, who represents the property owners. The land was then subdivided and sold.

“What is down there is rank garbage from the P.V. landfill next door . . . (and) that’s not supposed to be there,” Beck said.

Beck was referring to the much larger Palos Verdes Landfill operated by the county until it was closed and sealed in 1980. That dump, which does contain hazardous wastes, is maintained by the county sanitation districts.

The homeowners aren’t the only ones questioning whether the P.V. dump may be leaking hazardous wastes into the old Hawthorne Canyon dump.

That possibility was raised by state toxic waste experts in a June 10 internal memo that revealed that the earth barrier built between the two dumps was not designed to stop the underground flow of liquid or gas wastes.

The memo stated that the earthen wall between the two dumps “is not an effective barrier to the migration of liquids or gases.”

County sanitation districts experts disagree, contending that there is no connection between the two dumps. They also contend that no hazardous wastes were placed in the Hawthorne dump, saying the gases that are now escaping from the site contain traces of chemicals that occur naturally in the breakdown of municipal wastes.

“These are separate sites, and there is no indication of connection or migration of chemicals between them,” said John Gulledge, spokesman for the districts. The levels of methane, vinyl chloride and benzene escaping from the Hawthorne dump are “no different than from any other landfill,” he said.

The districts have offered to install a gas collection system across the back yards of the 10 homes, similar to the collection system used to capture noxious gases at the Palos Verdes Landfill, he said. So far, he said the property owners have refused the offer.

The Hawthorne landfill, located in a small canyon between Hawthorne Boulevard and Moccasin Lane, was developed legally on private lands by the county sanitation districts in 1968, records show. Quickly filled with municipal wastes, it was capped by a layer of earth, and the land was subsequently subdivided and sold.

By 1981 decomposition of the yard trash and household garbage was causing yards to sink and crack and plants to die. Fences and barns collapsed, swimming pools were damaged, and residents said their yards became unusable.

Last February the residents petitioned the City Council for help in pressing their demand that the sanitation districts remove the dump by scooping out the contents and refilling the canyons and their back yards with clean dirt.

When the city refused to intercede on their behalf, the homeowners filed a claim against the city, alleging that it too was at least partly responsible for the problem because it was the city that approved the landfill.

The city denies that it has any liability in the matter.

“We have no responsibility for what is happening,” said City Atty. Richard Terzian.

City Councilwoman Jacki McGuire believes county sanitation districts officials have been “dragging their feet” on the matter; she wants county officials to comply with the state order to drill test holes and take samples to determine what is in the dump.

“I want to know what exactly is under there, but so far we don’t know. We’re still waiting,” she said.

Negotiation between state and county officials over what to do are continuing.

County sanitation experts say there is no need to sample the landfill contents because they know it contains municipal wastes that pose no health hazards.

“We still see no reason (to bore test holes); all we’d find is (municipal) trash that we know is there. That’s not going to help,” Gulledge said.