Mobil Oil Agrees to Hold Off on Leakage Cleanup Plan

Responding to community concern over a plan to remove gasoline and waste oil from beneath a service station near two schools and several residences, a Mobil Oil Corp. official said Thursday the company will delay its abatement plan until community members’ questions are fully answered.

The gasoline and oil apparently leaked into the soil from underground storage tanks at a Mobil gas station at Moorpark Street and Fulton Avenue.

Mobil is asking the South Coast Air Quality Management District for permission to build and operate a soil vapor extraction and treatment system at the site. The system would draw the gas and oil out of the soil, burn it and release fumes into the air.

The service station is near St. Francis de Sales School and Dixie Canyon Avenue Elementary School, single-family homes and an apartment building. Concerned parents, school officials and property owners are worried that the fumes pose a health risk.

Nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, sulfur oxide and benzene--a known carcinogen--would be emitted into the air, state environmental officials said.

AQMD officials told residents at a community forum earlier this month that the chance children or residents would develop cancer as a result of the emissions is “less than a million to one.”

Still, community members were concerned. They requested a meeting with Mobil officials to discuss alternative abatement options and to get their questions answered.

The two sides agreed to meet Thursday night at St. Francis de Sales.

“We want to present the reasons why we need to take action and what the options are,” said Carolin Keith, an oil company spokeswoman, before the meeting.

“We misjudged the depth of community concern,” Keith said. “It was never our intention to impose anything on the community that it is uncomfortable with.”

Diane Colucci, a St. Francis de Sales parent and area homeowner, organized the session.

“We are pleased that they are making an effort to be cooperative and to provide additional information,” she said.