Residents Raise Objections to Soil Cleanup

Since state workers began digging up contaminated soil at the William Mead housing projects earlier this month, Antonia Alvarez and her 15-year-old son Anthony have experienced dizzy spells, headaches and stomach problems.

Alba Rodas, 30, said her eyes often burn from the dust kicked up as trucks cart away the industrial waste left behind by an oil refinery that operated at Lincoln Heights property during the early part of the 20th century.

Similar reports of illness from other residents are fueling a drive to halt the state cleanup.

Though eager to get rid of the soil found in a former baseball field and several community lawns, residents and an environmental group contend that the state’s $1.6-million effort to remove 11,000 tons of dirt is not enough.

Soil tests have found volatile organic compounds, carcinogenic metals and other industrial waste.

Residents cite scores of cancer cases and respiratory illnesses among residents of the 57-year-old housing project as evidence of undetected toxins--an assertion difficult to prove.

They also allege that the cleanup is not being handled properly, raising too much dust.

“It smells horrible here at night,” Alvarez said. “Everybody is walking around saying that they feel tired. It can’t be just a coincidence.”

State and local officials say there are no health problems associated with the cleanup. But residents’ complaints have drawn the attention of two Los Angeles lawmakers.

Assemblyman Gil Cedillo (D-Los Angeles) has joined efforts to persuade the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to develop a more comprehensive cleanup plan that includes soil testing in other sections of the housing projects.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Los Angeles) has asked her staff to find out if there is available housing for Mead residents who want to move.

“Clearly, it’s a matter of urgency,” Cedillo said. He intends to write emergency legislation temporarily stopping the cleanup program pending further review.

“At a minimum, the state seems duty-bound to create a degree of comfort and confidence with the residents,” he said. “That hasn’t happened.”

Residents are caught in a tug of war between the city housing authority and Communities for a Better Environment, a nonprofit activist group alerted by complaints in March.

Members of the group accuse housing officials of minimizing the pollution problem, while the housing authority accuses the activists of creating hysteria.

“We have almost as many people watching the job as working it,” said Bill Davis, a housing authority spokesman. “Our people say everything is being done safely, slowly and carefully. All the air monitors show that everything is being done properly.”

But Suzana Tapia, regional director of Communities for a Better Environment, said she recently saw dust flying from trucks filled with contaminated soil--which several residents confirmed.

It was only after she complained to state officials that measures were taken to stop the flying dust, Tapia said. “We can’t always be there to watch them,” she said.

Cal/EPA spokesman Ron Baker said officials are considering testing nearby areas.

The removal plan was developed four years ago, using aerial photos and old maps of the oil refinery to pinpoint the contamination, Baker said.

He said, workers are wetting down the soil to reduce the chance of escaped dust particles.