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DEL AMO SUPERFUND CLEANUP PLAN PROPOSED

Release Date: 12/12/1996
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1587

    (San Francisco)--The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) today announced a proposed plan to address contaminated waste and soil at the waste pits at the Del Amo Superfund site near Torrance, Calif.

     The public is invited to attend a community meeting and provide comments on the proposed plan.  The meeting will be held at 7 p.m., Wednesday, January 29, 1997, at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr., Torrance, Calif.

     "After a careful investigation of environmental problems at this site, U.S. EPA has proposed a plan to address the waste pits," says Keith Takata, Superfund director.  "We believe building a multilayer, impermeable cap will provide a thick protective cover over the waste pit.  U.S. EPA will make a final decision after hearing from the public.  We will continue to keep the community involved and informed on the cleanup actions that must be undertaken at the Del Amo site."

     U.S. EPA proposes to cap the waste pits in a closure/containment system and clean contaminated soil by using soil vapor extraction, a process that removes contaminants from the soil.  The process will minimize the amount of contaminants that move from the waste pit to the soils and groundwater beneath the pits.  

     The public may also comment on the proposed cleanup plan by submitting written comments, postmarked by February 13, 1997, to:

     Dante Rodriguez  (SFD-7-1)
     Remedial Project Manager
     Superfund Division
     U.S. EPA, Region 9
     75 Hawthorne St.
     San Francisco, CA 94105


     Copies of the proposed plan and related documents are available for public review at the following locations:

     Torrance Civic Center Library        
     3031 Torrance Blvd.                  
     Torrance, Calif.                    

     Carson Public Library
     151 E. Carson St.
     Carson, Calif

     U.S. EPA will also hold a community workshop from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, December 14, 1996, at the Torrance Cultural Arts Center to discuss other activities at the Del Amo and the neighboring Montrose Superfund sites.

     The Del Amo Pits Superfund site was a rubber manufacturing facility from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s, and wastes from the facility were disposed of in pits, which are contaminated with volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds.  DDT was manufactured at the 13-acre Montrose facility, across the street from Del Amo, from 1947 to 1982.

     The Del Amo site was reproposed to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in June 1996.  Montrose was added to the NPL in October 1989.  The NPL is the U.S. EPA's list of hazardous waste sites potentially posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and the environment.

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