DDT Worries Rack Neighborhood : Pollution: Three families move out of homes in Torrance area while the EPA works to remove chemically contaminated soil from yards. Others say they want to join the exodus.

Nervous neighbors watched from the sidewalk as Guillermo and Leticia Aguirre packed their car with suitcases Monday morning and prepared to move from their modest stucco bungalow near Torrance to a nearby hotel at federal expense.

Some neighbors said they, too, want to pack their suitcases and join the exodus.

In all, three families temporarily moved from their homes to hotels Monday so that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency could begin digging DDT-contaminated soil from their back yards.

Supposedly all three families will return home in 10 days to two weeks when the excavation is finished.

But Guillermo Aguirre is so disturbed and angered by news of a banned pesticide in the soil outside his door that he has told the EPA he never wants to return to the home he rents on West 204th Street in an unincorporated area wedged between Torrance and Carson.

“I asked them to close down the whole place,” said Aguirre as he prepared to leave his house.

Concern has mounted in this working-class neighborhood with news of higher-than-expected chemical levels.

Although federal experts say they remain perplexed about why extremely high levels of DDT have been found in two back yards, many residents believe the pesticide migrated from the former site of Montrose Chemical Corp., once a major manufacturer of DDT.

The Aguirre house is located about a quarter-mile from the Montrose site, which is on the federal Superfund list of the nation’s most hazardous waste sites. A second proposed Superfund location known as the Del Amo site--which was formerly a synthetic rubber manufacturing plant--sits directly north of West 204th Street.

Many have lived for years on this quiet, tree-lined street without giving much thought to the two nearby sites, but the most recent test results have been jarring.

As the Aguirres drove off on Monday, some onlookers talked ominously about the latest turn of events: test results released Friday that showed DDT levels as much as 45 times higher than what is considered safe in an area near Aguirre’s yard. The testing was conducted up to three feet beneath the surface.

Now, other residents are wondering if they, too, should move away.

“I’m concerned about my health. I want out of here,” said Carmen Herrera, who lives across the street from the Aguirres.

“It’s scary stuff here, with all they’re finding. . . . I feel trapped in a cage, and I can’t get out. And it scares me.”

Herrera would like to see prominent signs warning of chemical problems posted on streets leading into her neighborhood, much like the Medfly quarantine signs seen elsewhere in Los Angeles County.

Some residents have reported health complaints such as rashes, breathing problems, nausea and headaches. Guillermo Aguirre says he has trouble breathing, and his next-door neighbor complains of burning eyes and headaches.

Federal officials counter, however, that there is no clear evidence linking neighborhood health problems to DDT.

In fact, even the news last Friday of DDT levels exceeding 4,000 parts per million does not signal a health hazard, officials said.

“This is not what we would consider an emergency removal. They are only leaving their homes because of the nuisance factor. There is absolutely no health or safety factor why they’re leaving their homes,” said Paula Bruin, spokeswoman at the EPA’s western regional office.

DDT was widely used as a pesticide before being banned in the United States in 1972. It damages the reproduction of wildlife and is suspected of causing cancer in humans.

Federal officials recommend precautions when DDT levels exceed 100 p.p.m., and immediate cleanup is considered warranted when levels top 260 p.p.m.

Both Aguirre and his next-door neighbor, Cynthia Babich, have asked to be permanently relocated because of the DDT, but federal officials say that is unlikely.

“It’s just not something that anyone is assuming or imagining at this time,” says Bruin.

Two other neighboring families hope to be moved temporarily during the work. Robin Hatch says she does not want her 2-month-old daughter, Michelle, to be in the neighborhood during the daytime when the excavation is under way. Neighbor Marla Frame says she wants to move her daughter and infant grandson during the excavation.

“We don’t know what they’re going to find while they’re digging,” Frame said. It remained unclear Monday if the EPA would agree to her request.

The excavation project initially was expected to remove 8,000 cubic feet of soil from two back yards, at a cost of $317,866. However, that was calculated before the most recent test results, which will mean more soil may be removed.

“It could cost more. I wouldn’t say, at this point, a lot more. It really depends,” said EPA spokeswoman Virginia Donohue.

EPA is planning an open house to answer questions about the Montrose and Del Amo sites Thursday starting at 6 p.m., followed by a public forum from 7 to 9:30 p.m., at the Vandeene School Auditorium, 829 Javelin St.