VENTURA : Expanded Clinic May Go on Tainted Site

Under a proposal to expand a public health clinic in west Ventura, county supervisors today will consider buying a building that sits on contaminated soil for which the county could be held liable in the future.

The two-story building, at 133 W. Santa Clara St., is owned by Texaco and has been vacant for two years. Under terms of the proposal, the county would buy the building for $1.3 million and spend $1.8 million to remodel it. The building’s original listed price was $3.9 million.

If supervisors endorse the sale, Texaco will be held responsible for cleaning up pollution from leaking underground tanks and removing asbestos ceiling tiles.

However, the county could be held liable for a larger patch of ground-water contamination in the west Ventura area.

“It’s always a major concern,” Supervisor John K. Flynn said, “because you don’t know how far contamination has spread in the ground, and it can be a very expensive proposition.”

Flynn also said he questions moving the clinic to a location relatively close to the Ventura County Medical Center. The West Ventura Family Care Clinic is now run from cramped quarters at 110 N. Olive St., Ventura.

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said she also has concerns about contamination and the county’s potential liability.

A staff report said the expansion is needed because the clinic’s patient volume has increased from 600 visits per month in 1989 to 1,200 visits per month in 1992. If the county buys the Texaco building, the billing and collections departments of the county’s Health Care Agency would also be housed there.

Despite the environmental risks, the county Public Works Department described the purchase as “a good business decision for the county.”