Probe of Toxic Soil at Electronics Plant to Begin : Hazardous waste: The investigation will determine whether ground water near the Costa Mesa site has been contaminated.

By MARLA CONE

Oct. 9, 1990 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

COSTA MESA — Nearly 10 years after toxic contamination was discovered in the soil at an electronics plant here, crews this week will finally explore whether the chemical is endangering the area’s underground water supply.

The long-awaited investigation at the site, which is on a state priority list of hazardous-waste sites to be cleaned up, has been delayed by years of wrangling between private consultants and state officials.

Copper sulfate--a green acidic and metallic chemical used to produce circuit boards--was first spotted in the soil on the property at 1267 Logan Ave. in 1981. State health officials say its presence was the result of sloppy chemical handling by Metropolitan Circuits Inc., which leased the site from 1969 until 1981. Velie Circuits Inc. has been operating there since 1984, and state officials say there has been no sign of illegal dumping or spillage since then.

“It’s been delay after delay after delay for years,” said Larry Velie, owner of Velie Circuits. “I’m relieved something is finally happening.”

The case shows how long a toxic-cleanup project can drag on, even when the site is on the state’s priority list. The list names 52 dump sites in Southern California--including four others in Orange County--that the state health department has deemed hazardous enough to oversee their cleanup.

“I’d like to say a delay like this is unique, but it’s not,” said Allan Hirsch of the state Department of Health Services toxic substances program. “The delay has been somewhat long, but it’s not that unusual. There are some sites on the list that have been there just as long.”

Beginning today or perhaps Wednesday, consultants hired by Metropolitan Circuits will take 15 soil samples from depths of at least 35 feet to investigate how far down the chemical has seeped. In addition, two monitoring wells will be drilled to see whether ground water has been tainted.

During the drilling, which could take two weeks, crews are required to sample the air to ensure that toxic dust does not escape. Near the site are an apartment complex and businesses in an industrial park.

The tests, to be overseen by the state Department of Health Services, are only the first step toward cleanup. Next comes analysis of the data, development of a detailed excavation plan and public hearings to discuss its adequacy.

Since at least 1981, the chemical has left bright green stains on a concrete flood-control channel that empties into Upper Newport Bay, a state-protected wildlife sanctuary. The channel divides the electronics plant from the apartment complex, Our Town Apartments, on Fairview Avenue.

So far, no contamination has seeped into the bay, where it could harm fish and birds, and the public has not been exposed to the chemical.

But officials do not know whether the material, which is heavy and moves fairly slowly, has leaked into ground water, about 35 feet below the surface. If it has, it could threaten Costa Mesa’s drinking-water wells, the closest of which is less than a mile away.

“On a scale of hazardous waste sites, this is certainly not the worst, but it needs to be addressed,” Hirsch said. “It’s a fair amount of copper that should be removed, but it’s not a site where tons of material are leaking off site and pose an immediate threat to residents. If it has gotten into ground water, then it is a much more serious problem.”

Costa Mesa Fire Marshal Tom Macduff said he is relieved to hear that crews will be checking the ground water.

“They’re finally going to do something out there. It’s been there for a long, long time. I don’t like the thought that it’s possibly migrating down to our ground water table,” he said. “Our ground water is very important to us, since (imported) water is so expensive.”

The site has been on the priority list since 1984, virtually since the Legislature created the state program to guide the state’s efforts to force companies to clean up major hazardous waste sites.

State officials say the project has taken so long because Metropolitan Circuits’ consultants have had to start over.

Consultants for the company began removing contaminated soil in 1986, but they discovered that the greenish substance had gone deeper than the two feet they had estimated. The digging was stopped and state health officials ordered further investigation. Since then, Hirsch said, new consultants have missed several deadlines, and they proposed various plans to the health department, all of which except the current one were rejected as inadequate.

“It took longer than we would have liked. But unfortunately, it’s not unusual for us to spend a number of months with a consultant trying to get an adequate work plan,” Hirsch said. “If there is an environmental or health threat, we can go in and do it ourselves. But we have limited funds, and this one never got to that point.”

Officials with Metropolitan Circuits, which now operates in Santa Ana, and their consulting company, Strata Technologies of Monrovia, were unavailable for comment Monday.

Velie said he had no idea that the contamination existed when he began leasing the land in 1984, three years after Metropolitan Circuits moved out. A part of his back lot measuring about 40-by-40 feet is contaminated, he said.

His company last month filed suit against Metropolitan Circuits, seeking to get the cleanup done faster and alleging that the delays have interfered with his business.

Hirsch said the state is holding Metropolitan Circuits financially responsible for the cleanup, although Velie Circuits and the landowner, an Encino lawyer, also have been named as responsible parties in case Metropolitan Circuits cannot or will not pay.

The cost of the cleanup is not known, since it depends on how deep the chemical has leaked. Similar projects have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.