Fullerton Project OK Ends Long, Hot Debate

Concern over toxic pollutants fueled more than eight hours of public debate Monday night and early Tuesday morning before the Fullerton City Council finally voted unanimously to approve the Amerige Heights development planned at a former Hughes Aircraft site.

Testimony was sharply split over the 1,250-home project at Malvern and Gilbert avenues, with about half arguing that the land was too contaminated to build on. The rest touted the development as well-designed, with plans for a shopping center that would boost the city’s slumping sales tax revenue.

Several residents asked the council to wait for final results from the state Department of Toxic Substance Control about contaminants on the 200-acre parcel before taking a vote. But Mayor F. Richard Jones told them there wasn’t time to wait.

“What’s the urgency?” he replied shortly before 2 a.m.. “The urgency is this commercial development has got to get going. They’ve got to start construction by January to be open by Christmas. That’s when they make the most money.”

A plume of solvents dumped at the site has left detectable levels of the dangerous pollutants dichloroethylene and trichloroethylene in monitoring wells south of the project. The amount of contaminants falls within the allowable levels set by the state and federal government, but officials are still not certain whether those levels will rise or fall.

The state has been assessing the property since 1995 and has not issued any orders to clean up the property, but it has also not signed off on the site. Consultants hired by the city to test the contamination told the council it sometimes takes years for the state to decide.

Council members said they would rely on the experts to determine whether the level of toxins at the site would pose any threat to human health.

Councilwoman Jan M. Flory cited reports from other agencies, including the Orange County Water District, stating that the site was OK to build on.

“To think otherwise,” she said, “would be like saying all these agencies are lying.”

She added that Raytheon, which bought the land from Hughes after it closed in 1995, is responsible for any cleanup at the site.