Cleanup Unearths Chunks of DDT : Environment: White clumps buried two to three feet deep are found to consist mostly of the toxic pesticide. The EPA is reassessing its operation in Torrance-area neighborhood.

A mysterious white substance unearthed in two back yards has proved to be largely DDT, prompting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider expanding its cleanup of a South Bay neighborhood.

Scattered clumps of a white, powdery material were spotted Friday in soil two to three feet below the surface as cleanup workers removed soil already known to contain the banned pesticide. EPA tests have found that the white material is 66% DDT and 10% decomposed DDT, mixed with soil and other organic matter, agency officials confirmed Wednesday.

The EPA officials emphasized that because the DDT was buried, it does not pose a direct health hazard to people living near the two back yards along West 204th Street east of Torrance.

In light of the latest finding, the EPA is reassessing its cleanup plans for the two back yards and is launching an investigation into the source of the DDT, agency spokeswoman Paula Bruin said Wednesday.

“We remain committed to cleaning it up, no matter what we find,” Bruin said.

News that the white substance was mostly DDT spread quickly among residents, and some called it proof of their suspicion that the DDT contamination in their neighborhood is more serious than federal officials have indicated.

“I’m basically pretty disgusted,” said activist Cynthia Babich, who maintains that the EPA should have done more extensive soil testing years ago in the neighborhood, which is near two toxic chemical sites, including a federal Superfund site that once housed a large DDT manufacturing plant.

Babich said she fears that highly concentrated DDT may be buried under neighborhood homes, and she repeated her call for the federal government to permanently relocate residents living closest to the cleanup site, an option that federal officials call highly unlikely.

High levels of DDT were first detected during a series of surface-soil tests this winter and spring in the two yards, including the yard behind the home rented by Babich and her husband. The discovery concerned residents because high doses of the banned pesticide, a suspected carcinogen, can affect the nervous system and the liver.

Until this week, the highest DDT level found in the back yard soil was 4,509 parts per million, or 45 times the level considered safe by the EPA.

Responding to those tests, the agency began its cleanup project April 29, with initial plans to remove 8,000 cubic feet of soil from the two yards at a cost of about $350,000.

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When Babich and other neighbors expressed fears that the tainted soil could be blown into the air, the EPA agreed to relocate 25 families from the street in hotels at federal expense until the cleanup is complete.

When workers and residents spotted the white clumps, the EPA sent samples to a laboratory for testing.

More white clumps have been found this week in soil from both yards, but officials could not provide an estimate Wednesday of how much there was. Babich, who has been videotaping the excavation, estimates that she has seen enough clumps to fill two garbage cans.

The EPA is planning to test soil in 100 to 300 yards in the neighborhood to make sure the DDT contamination is not widespread.

Babich recalled Wednesday that her husband, Frank, experienced nausea and vomiting after digging fence-post holes in their back yard three years ago.

Some residents have complained of rashes, nausea, headaches and joint pain and have wondered if the cause is the DDT and other chemicals in the nearby toxic sites. Health officials have assured them, however, that there is no known way for residents to come into contact with those chemicals.

Peter deFur, a senior scientist for the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, said the newly excavated DDT probably does not pose a direct health hazard to residents because it was two to three feet below the surface. He would be more concerned, he said, if such high concentrations were found in surface dust.