Feinstein Again Asks About El Toro Cleanup

If the Navy was trying to send a hint to Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) by not answering a letter she sent four months ago citing her concerns about the El Toro Marine base cleanup plan, Feinstein isn’t taking it.

After waiting in vain for a response, she again wrote this week to Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England--reminding him that she still sees serious shortcomings in the Navy’s cleanup plan, and that England has yet to explain why the Navy is not more aggressive about removing toxins.

Feinstein’s letter follows a recent unanimous Orange County Board of Supervisors decision to put the El Toro cleanup issue before voters in November. That ballot measure will demand that the Navy reconcile its plan for the 4,700-acre base with environmental studies by Irvine and the county suggesting that the Navy’s plan is inadequate.

Public attention has shifted to the toxins under the base since voters in March rejected a plan for a commercial airport at the closed military base after a decade-long debate and opted for an urban park instead.

“I share the concerns raised by the Board of Supervisors over contamination at ... El Toro,” Feinstein wrote, pointing out specific locations where the Navy has conducted “limited or no testing.”

Those areas include under the runways where jet fuel may have seeped; two landfills that are full of oil, paint residue, hydraulic fluid and industrial solvents; and the base sewer system, where one study suggests 700,000 pounds of toxic solvents may have leaked.

Navy officials declined to answer Feinstein’s letter directly, but defended their cleanup actions, assuring that the Navy is taking responsibility for removing all hazardous waste--even if it is discovered after the property is transferred to public or private hands.