Local News in Brief : DWP Crew Cleans Up Oil From Transformers
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Los Angeles Department of Water and Power workers returned to a Northridge neighborhood Friday to clean up transformer oil that spilled when two transformers fell to the ground earlier this week in the 19200 block of Prairie Street, near Tampa Avenue.
The oil is not hazardous and does not contain PCB, a carcinogen used in some transformers, said Ed Gladbach, a spokesman for DWP. It is necessary to remove the oil because it is classified by the state as a hazardous substance, he said.
Gladbach said the earth is being moved from areas where the oil may have seeped into the ground, then sealed in barrels and transported to a hazardous-waste landfill. He estimated that workers will dig about six inches deep. He said the area will be replanted.
The transformers fell Wednesday when a wooden arm that holds them broke, Gladbach said. Workers are also scheduled to soak up with absorbent material any oil that leaked into a nearby storm channel.
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