FULLERTON : Cleanup Under Way at McColl Waste Site

Workers at the McColl toxic waste site this week began to stabilize its 100,000 cubic yards of contaminated material by drilling and injecting cement into the tarry sludge pits.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to solidify about half of the petroleum refinery wastes and build barriers above and below ground to contain the area.

A 30-foot-high piece of drilling equipment will be used this month for a test run of the cleanup.

If the solidification works in the first pit, it will be extended to the remaining 11.

If it fails, the EPA will cap the whole site without stabilizing the tar.

The test should be completed by early February, according to an EPA spokesperson.

To test the technique, a truck-mounted drill will burrow into the ground.

As it turns, chemicals will be pushed down into the waste to make it solid and safer thereafter.

Some gases will be released during the drilling, but they will be collected by a shroud over the drill bit and sent through an air treatment system before they are released.

The EPA said there may be some smelly fumes, and anyone who detects fumes may call the site trailer at (714) 521-6082 to report the problem.

Workers will test for sulfur dioxide and other chemicals both upwind and downwind of the drilling area.

Residents have complained for years that soft tarry wastes bubble up from the site, causing bad smells, eye irritation, nausea and headaches.

The four oil companies that produced the waste during the 1940s have been ordered to pay costs of the cleanup, estimated at $80 million.

Shell Oil Co., Atlantic Richfield Co., Union Oil Co. of California and Texaco Inc. are fighting in court against paying the costs, arguing that the waste was produced during government-ordered World War II production.