Soil Cleanup Issue Clouds Start of Mall Construction : Environment: Carson outlet center would be built on a former landfill. Questions linger about the level of contamination from heavy metals and solvents.

When the Carson City Council last week approved a plan to help developers finance a huge factory outlet mall, the project took a crucial step toward fruition.

But it still has a long path to travel before cash registers jingle.

Developers of Metro 2000, which would be built on a former landfill near the junction of the San Diego and Harbor freeways, say they plan to begin construction next summer.

Yet questions remain on whether the 157-acre site is contaminated with heavy metals and solvents. In the last four years, developers have spent nearly $10 million to test the soil but have yet to determine how much hazardous waste lies underground and what cleanup methods--which must be approved by the California Department of Toxic Control--to use.

After four years of negotiations, the City Council last week voted 3-1, with one abstention, to provide the developers part of the sales tax revenue the city will get from the mall. In the mall’s first year, expected to be 1996, it will generate an estimated $3 million in sales tax revenue.

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The developers would use the money to install roads, lighting, water services and other improvements.

The city rushed to sign the deal before Friday, when a new state law prohibiting cities from sharing their sales taxes with developers takes effect.

Some council members opposed the deal because they fear the landfill pollution may be worse than is known. They expressed concern that the city could be held legally liable for damages, including cleanup costs.

Chemicals believed to have been buried include oil, petroleum and solvents, said Richard Varenchik, a spokesman for the California Department of Toxic Control.

Councilwoman Sylvia Muise-Perez, who abstained from voting, said she was not satisfied with the agreement because “there are too many loose ends.”

“I am not against the project,” she said, “but in the rush to have something signed, the city is failing to protect itself.”

Proposed by Carson Realty Projects Inc., the Metro 2000 project calls for a core of 180 discount stores that would make it the biggest outlet mall on the West Coast, according to project manager Peter Sardagna.

Sardagna said the company is drafting a cleanup proposal for the California Department of Toxic Control. The plan will include the installation of a system of wells, pipes and pumps to clean contaminated water and prevent hazardous gas from escaping.

Although the hazardous gas may always remain underground and it could take decades to fully decontaminate the water (which is not used for drinking), Sardagna said it is possible to build on the site while it is being cleaned.

Uncertainty about the extent of the pollution and potential health hazards has divided Carson residents.

Tom J. Hodges, a resident of the Del Amo Mobile Home Estates next to the site, urged the city to approve the project.

“If we could have Metro 2000, a lot of our problems would be solved,” Hodges said. Buildings on the site would hold down dust, which blows through the area on windy days, causing respiratory problems for many residents.

But other residents balk at the project, raising concerns about pollution and construction. A recent report by an environmental consultant hired by the city warned that the mobile homes may be shaken off their pilings by vibration from construction of the mall’s 100-foot foundation.