[CPEO-BIF] Area-wide assessment of BF in Gardena (CA)

["Robert Hersh" <b_hersh@verizon.net>]

Cleanup of Gardena brownfield land starts
Workers begin rehabilitation of the soil around shopping center.
By Sandy Mazza

Shoppers come and go hardly noticing the green plastic fences that surround
planters and landscaped islands at the Gardena Marketplace shopping center.
But behind the innocent-looking barriers is some of the most hazardous soil
in the city. This week, workers wearing protective clothing will begin
replacing soil contaminated with high levels of polychlorinated biphenyls -
or PCBs - around the shopping center, which includes an Albertsons grocery
store, at 1733Artesia Blvd.

...The site was deemed a brownfield - a land parcel contaminated by
environmentally hazardous materials - in 2002. The pollution was caused by a
nearby Honeywell facility that made heating and air conditioning controls
before it closed in 1991...Last year, about 4,000 cubic yards of
PCB-contaminated soil were trucked out from underneath the mobile home park
in the 17000 block of Western Avenue after the chemicals were found in
residents' carpets and as deep as 2feet below ground.

...And that's only the tip of the problem. Dangerous chemicals have been
found at no fewer than 70 different sites across the city, in the soil and
groundwater, according to government officials. Contaminated sites include
gas stations, dry cleaners, sheet metal manufacturers, auto body shops and
oil wells.

...Gardena took an aggressive approach toward brownfields in 1999 by
dedicating $10,000 to document them. Since then, the city has used about
$750,000 in federal grants to identify the properties and educate the
community.

For the entire article, see:
http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/10149096.html?showAll=y&c=y


Bob Hersh
CPEO



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