Ascon site still not cleaned up!

The 2011-2012 Orange County Grand Jury determined that a follow-up to the Nesi-Ascon Site Study conducted by the Grand Jury 11 years ago was long overdue. The current Jury, therefore, conducted this study in order to report to the Orange County public on current circumstances and on the lead-up to what looks to be an effective, but agonizingly slow, clean-up.     

 The Nesi-Ascon area at Magnolia and Hamilton in Huntington Beach, is a former dumpsite now euphemistically referred to as a ―landfill‖ where industrial and oil field wastes were disposed of into surface impoundments euphemistically referred to as―lagoons.‖ The lagoons were surrounded by berms to contain waste materials.   

In 2003, three years after the original Grand Jury report was published, the State of California, through the California Environmental Protection Agency‘s DTSC, issued an―Imminent and Substantial Endangerment Determination and Order and Remedial Action Order‖pursuant to California Health and Safety Code Sections 2355.5(a)(1)(B), 25358.3(a), 58009 and 56010, wherein a group of Responsible Parties (RPs) entered into a Consent Order18 to clean and reclaim the site at their expense. The RP group consisted of Atlantic Richfield, Chevron Environmental Management, Conoco Phillips, the Dow Chemical Company, Shell Oil, Southern California Edison, and Northrop Grumman Space & Mission Systems Corporation, all of whom would be paying for the site investigation and clean-up. Additionally, DTSC issued a unilateral order to the property owner and Exxon Mobil Corporation to compel them to work with the officially-named RP‘s.   

A six-foot tall opaque fence was erected completely around the dump that remains today.                                                                                                                                            

Read the whole report HERE

The 1999-2000 Grand Jury had studied this 38-40 acre toxic dumpsite in Huntington Beach and determined, among other things, that the site posed ―potential dangers to the health and safety ofthe community‖; that, at the very least, adequate fencing should be installed quickly to protect the unwary; and that County and City ought to ―bring pressure on the appropriate entity to deal with toxic clean-up and remediating (sic) this hazardous site.‖4 They recommended that ―apermanent clean-up be expedited‖5 and that a subsequent Grand Jury perform a follow-up inquiry. The 2011-2012 Grand Jury answers that request. It has studied the history of the site and herein reports on the current status of the ongoing cleanup being performed in accordance with a 2003 Consent Order and Decree entered into by the California Department of Toxic                                                        Substances Control (DTSC) and seven oil companies                                                 

The plans for reclamation and the clean-up of this site have been in the works for many years, certainly for more years than anyone would have thought possible. Whatever the reasons, and many have been advanced, the work is now progressing, although painfully slowly. The Grand Jury is aware that with respect to environmental clean-ups, federal and state environmental laws mandate (1) publication and distribution of pertinent information and plans through Environmental Impact Reports (EIR) and Statements (EIS); and (2) specification of time periods allowed for comment by the public. However, the time involved in getting this notorious site cleaned up may very well seem excessive to many.  

What is Pit F?

https://www.ocregister.com/2021/05/07/agency-praised-for-response-to-toxic-dump-outrage-in-huntington-beach/ How did the south HB community react?