School District to Help Pay for Study of Toxic Waste Site

Nervous about toxic waste being stored about 1,100 feet from a proposed elementary school, the El Rancho Unified School District has agreed to share the cost of a health risk assessment at the Southern California Gas Co. plant in Pico Rivera.

Supt. Jim Waters said the district will pay up to a sixth, or about $8,300, of a $50,000 study being commissioned by the city to determine whether chemicals including polychlorinated biphenyls and mercury could pose any threat to neighbors of the Rosemead Boulevard plant.

“We want assurances that [the plant] doesn’t pose a health risk for our students,� Waters said.

The district, which hopes to reopen a school adjacent to the plant, joined neighbors in appealing this year’s renewal of a state license that has allowed the company to store toxic waste at the site since the mid-1980s. State regulators rejected the appeals, saying the site was virtually impervious to leaks.

Pico Rivera City Manager Dennis Courtemarche said the city is preparing to hire a specialist to inspect the plant, and that the results of the study could be available by December.