CSU Board Advised of Soil Test Results
California State University can proceed with plans to condemn land for a campus in Ventura County after soil tests show only mild contamination, Cal State trustees learned at their monthly meeting in Long Beach on Tuesday.
David Leveille, director of institutional relations, told the decision-making board that test results were better than expected. Officials had feared contamination from abandoned oil wells and farm operations.
“There is nothing to suggest not proceeding,” he said. Leveille, who heads the process to acquire 260 cares of farmland west of Camarillo, said the lengthy legal proceedings to condemn the land are already under way.
The university would prefer to buy the land at a negotiated fair price, Leveille said. But Mohseni Ranches, which owns most of the property, has refused to sell. The other landowner, Sakioka Farms, has agreed to sell its 70-acre portion of the land for an undisclosed price.
The new campus would ultimately serve up to 22,000 students, becoming the first public four-year university in the county.
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