EPA to Test Soil of Homes Near Toxic Waste Dump : Environment: Residents in area east of Torrance have complained of illness. Earlier state studies found no danger at site once occupied by a rubber plant.

Since Cynthia Babich first sowed garden seeds in her back yard last winter, the ground has been transformed into a lush expanse of vines, flowers and vegetables, a fertile oasis in this gray industrial stretch of the South Bay.

But as her garden grew, Babich learned more about the contents of the Del Amo Pits, a 3.7-acre toxic waste dump, hidden behind her tall back fence. Now she wonders if her vegetables are safe to eat, if the air is safe to breathe, if the rash on her face stems from working the soil. “I can never feel comfortable,” she says. “I’m always thinking, am I getting poisoned here?”

This fall, Babich and her neighbors near the pits, part of a 280-acre property once occupied by a World War II-era synthetic rubber manufacturing plant, may finally get some answers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it will collect samples of soil from the back yards of Babich’s home and 13 others on the north side of West 204th Street between Normandie and New Hampshire avenues, in an unincorporated area east of Torrance.

EPA investigators are trying to determine whether soil around the homes has been contaminated by chemicals that are known to exist in the Del Amo Pits and other parts of the Del Amo site, a proposed Superfund site directly north of the neighborhood.

Earlier tests conducted by the state did not turn up problems around the homes, and the EPA says it does not expect to find dangerous levels of contamination in the yards. Tom Dunkelman, the EPA’s project manager, said it is unlikely that eating home-grown fruits and vegetables in the area would pose a health risk.

“But we can’t say that with certainty, and that’s why we’re going back to test,” Dunkelman said Thursday.

The Del Amo site has come under increased scrutiny in recent years because testing has turned up contamination, including ground water tainted with such chemicals as benzene, a carcinogen. (Residents in the area, however, do not drink well water.)

The U.S. government built the plant on the Del Amo site during World War II, and it was operated by Shell Oil Co. and Dow Chemical Co., among other companies. The plant was later sold to Shell, which operated it from 1955 though 1969. Shell later sold the property, and much of it is now an industrial park.

The EPA proposed in July, 1991, that the site be added to the Superfund National Priorities List, the agency’s list of hazardous waste sites believed to pose the greatest health and environmental threats. The site’s Superfund status is still being reviewed. But as part of a May, 1992, consent order, Shell Oil and Dow Chemical agreed to investigate soil and ground-water contamination and possible treatment of the area.

Shell believes that when the old plant was torn down in the 1970s, most waste materials were probably removed, said Shell spokesman Bill Duchie.

“One does not anticipate finding significant contamination,” he said. “The studies are going to continue, but the initial work is very promising and does not indicate a serious concern.”

The area, mostly within Los Angeles city limits, is bounded by Del Amo Boulevard to the south, Normandie Avenue to the west and 190th Street to the north; the eastern boundary follows Vermont Avenue south to Knox Street and continues south along Hamilton Avenue.

Investigators are paying special attention to the Del Amo Pits portion of the plant, an area near Del Amo Boulevard that was used for the disposal of plant waste. The pits lie behind wire-mesh fences just north of the small blue-frame rented house where Babich has lived with her husband for about 1 1/2 half years, moving there from a house just up the street.

Babich wants to know what is causing the health problems she has experienced since she moved into the neighborhood. They include her facial rash, headaches and stomach problems; she wonders about the abdominal cyst that required surgery last year. Her husband has stomach problems, and some neighbors have also been sick, she said.

“If it’s because of this dump, I’d really like to fry somebody,” Babich said. “I think someone should be held accountable.”

Carmen Herrera, who lives across the street from Babich, said her doctor has been unable to pinpoint a rash that has plagued her for months.

“I think it’s just a rash from those chemicals,” said Herrara, who with dozens of other area homeowners filed a 1992 lawsuit against a number of companies associated with the Del Amo site.

A state study in the mid-1980s did not detect a higher-than-normal cancer rate in the area, although it found some residents complaining of rashes and eye irritation.

The state Department of Health Services in February mailed several hundred area residents a pamphlet about the Del Amo area, warning: “Some chemicals dumped in the waste disposal area can cause health problems, but we don’t have enough information to know if you came in contact with these chemicals.”

The mailer cautioned that contaminated soil or air could have been carried into the neighborhood. People could be exposed by touching or breathing contaminated soil or by eating home-grown fruits, vegetables and chicken raised on contaminated land, the mailer said.

The mailer startled some neighbors, and the EPA’s Dunkelman calls it “overly alarming.”

So far, no tests have found vapors being blown from the pits to people’s homes, Dunkelman said. Nor is there evidence that vapors from contaminated ground water have risen to the surface around those homes.

The EPA will collect its soil samples on Sept. 21 and 22 from the neighborhood back yards and from a vacant area along Del Amo Boulevard. Analysis should take about six weeks, and EPA officials say they will hold a community meeting about the results if residents request it.

Meanwhile, Babich watches over her garden and wonders.

“I have an organic garden. In other words, I don’t add anything to it,” she says. “If there’s something there already, we’re in big trouble.”