City to Test for Pollution at DWP Property

An environmental firm will do limited testing for hazardous contamination at the site of a proposed coastal housing development in Seal Beach.

Seal Beach city leaders voted to commission $30,000 worth of testing for hazardous chemicals on the former DWP property Monday night. Despite the vote, some City Council members expressed concern that the limited testing will be insufficient to detect pollution from the industrial facility that existed there decades ago.

City Councilman Gary Miller, the lone dissenter on a 4-1 vote for the limited testing, was adamant that the testing isn’t enough to protect the community.

“We know there is contamination. My concern is if you don’t do a good enough study, you won’t find it all,” said Miller. “I consider the health of our public to be the most important thing.”

According to a city staff report, the property was treated for asbestos contamination in 1987 and then given a clean bill of health by the Orange County Health Care Agency. However, tests done in 2000 before the property was sold found traces of asbestos, oil and pesticide contamination.

Miller questioned how the county could have deemed the site clean enough in 1987 and still show contamination in the tests done in 2000.

There is a lot that environmental regulators know now that they didn’t in 1987. Several of the industrial solvents commonly used in 1987 were later discovered to be carcinogens and have since been banned. However, the pollutants can remain in the soil or groundwater even after decades of disuse.

Bay City Partners, the property's current owners, will pay for the environmental study. Dudek, the environmental firm working with the city on the project, has recommended additional soil tests for asbestos as well as groundwater, soil and vapor tests for volatile organic compounds that could have been left behind by the DWP. The firm will take 15 samples of soil vapor from 5 feet down, four groundwater samples, and 15 soil samples from 6 inches to a foot deep.

Councilwoman Ellery Deaton expressed concern that the 6-inch depth wouldn’t be deep enough to adequately determine if the site is polluted.

While previous consultants have bored 45 feet down into the soil at the property, engineers were testing for soil quality and stability as opposed to contamination.

However, Dudek has reviewed the previous studies and concluded that 15 6-inch samples will be adequate, said Mark Persico, the city’s director of Development Services. The firm is well respected and has served the city well as its consultant in the ongoing Arco gas station cleanup project in Bridgeport, Persico said.

Still, the firm’s reputation and recommendation wasn’t enough for Miller.

“The site is contaminated to some degree,” Miller said. “I don’t think 15 samples is sufficient, and I want a better study done.”