OXNARD : Workers Unearth 1940s Fuel Tanks

Two long-buried fuel tanks full of sludge were unearthed earlier this week after South Coast Area Transit construction workers found them while preparing to build a fuel-pumping station.

Officials said Thursday that the tanks were not leaking and that soil samples tested for toxicity had come back negative.

“They were buried here and used at one time by the city of Oxnard, when it used to be the maintenance facility for their equipment,” said Peter Drake, the transit agency general manager.

The agency is building a compressed natural gas pumping station at its 301 E. 3rd St. facility on property once owned by the city of Oxnard.

Workers found the 1,000-gallon tanks last week, but they were not moved until it was safe, Drake said. The agency spent $7,000 removing the tanks Wednesday, Drake said.

Specialists from Ventura County Environmental Health were called in to analyze the storage tanks, which apparently had been filled with a water and sludge mixture.

Oxnard Mayor Manuel Lopez said he was relieved that there was no apparent contamination from the tanks, which date back to the 1940s.

“It looks like it’s all over,” he said. “We lucked out on this one.”