Cleanup of Cement Plant Ordered : Pollution: The contamination source at the Gorman facility is believed to be a small industrial landfill that was used from 1970 to 1983.

Ground-water contamination has been found beneath a troubled cement plant near Gorman, prompting state officials to order a cleanup of the toxins believed to be seeping from an old on-site dump.

Well testing at the National Cement Co. plant, ordered by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, revealed that levels of toxic solvents exceeded state drinking water standards in ground water there.

The contamination does not appear to have spread to outlying areas where drinking water wells may be located, state authorities said.

However, water board officials and state health authorities could not identify the locations of the nearest drinking water wells. The state cleanup order calls for additional ground-water testing, which must be completed by April. In the meantime, the state plans no further tests.

State officials believe that the source of the contamination is a small industrial landfill at the plant that was used by a previous owner from about 1970 until 1983. The state’s cleanup order also includes contaminated soil at the landfill.

Authorities believe the about 5,000-square-foot dump was used illegally because no state or local permits could be found. The site was discovered during the state’s long-running investigation into the incineration of hazardous wastes at the site.

Under the state’s Oct. 9 order, responsibility for the cleanup rests first with the French-owned Lafarge Corp. The company owns General Portland Cement, the plant’s operator from 1971 to 1987, when the dump was used. Lafarge also owns the Systech Corp., the firm that still supplies the plant with the liquid wastes that are burned for fuel in the cement-making process.

Although Lafarge officials could not be reached for comment Friday, they have told the water board that they intend to comply with the cleanup order, said Mike Wochnick, an enforcement official with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.

If Lafarge does not undertake the cleanup, responsibility would then fall to National Cement, which took over the plant in 1987. Ultimately, Tejon Ranch, which owns the land, could be held liable for the cleanup.

Residents and environmentalists have long criticized the plant, the only one in the state permitted to burn hazardous wastes in manufacturing cement, saying it is polluting the air and causing illnesses among residents. Company officials say the plant poses no danger.

After a long investigation, state health officials in July finally concluded that the plant’s emissions do not pose a significant health risk.

But that came only after state and Kern County officials had fined the operation more than $450,000 since last October for burning too much hazardous waste.