Toxic NESI cleanup plans take small steps forward

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Efforts to clean up the inactive, but toxic, NESI

landfill seem to be taking a step forward, with a cleanup plan expected

to be in place by this summer.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control is conducting a

feasibility study and investigation on what type of cleanup is required

for the dump site.

Haissam Salloum, a unit chief with the department, said there is also

an ongoing effort to track down companies that used the dump in years

past. The results from that investigation, he added, are confidential as

evidence is collected.

City Councilwoman Connie Boardman and other city officials met with

landowner Signal Mortgage Co., state officials and about 30 residents in

a March 9 meeting on the NESI dump.

“I think there’s been a lot of interest from folks living in the

city’s southeast,” said Councilwoman Boardman, adding that it was good to

hear the plans of the landowner.

The Ascon NESI landfill covers about 38 vacant acres at the southwest

corner of Hamilton Avenue and Magnolia Street, with five lagoons and

eight pits filled with waste. The land was first used as a dumping ground

in 1938, taking in oil drilling byproducts like contaminated mud and

waster water brine. Chromic acid, sulfuric acid, aluminum slag, fuel oils

and other wastes were disposed at the site between 1957 and 1971.

Abandoned vehicles, asphalt, concrete, metal, soil and wood also filled

the landfill until 1984.

Last June, the site, considered an eyesore by many local residents,

was also labeled by the Orange County Grand Jury as a potential danger to

the community should anyone wander onto the vacant property. The grand

jury urged the city and county to take proactive steps in its cleanup.

Signal Mortgage bought the landfill acreage in 1993 with plans to

build homes on the site.

Although he did not return multiple phone calls, company president Tom

Broedlow has said cleanup talks between the state and Signal Mortgage

have gone on for about five years in order to ensure that toxic emissions

are not released when pollutants are removed.

“As far as I can tell, everybody is doing their jobs,” said George

Mason, a resident and member of the Southeast Huntington Beach

Neighborhood Assn. “The other side of the coin, however, is the

remediation plan, and I think our biggest problem now will be the trucks

coming in and out of the area during the cleanup.”

Salloum said that public comments will be welcome, with meetings

scheduled as a final remediation plan is developed. An approved cleanup

plan, he added, could be ready in June depending on whether an

environmental impact review is needed.