Meeting Will Discuss Cleanup of Rail Facility : * Environment: Hazardous materials have been found in the soil of the Taylor Yard train-switching center. Southern Pacific plans to sell much of the 243-acre site.

Southern Pacific Transportation Co.’s plan to remove toxic soil from Taylor Yard, its longtime train-switching facility, will be discussed Wednesday at a public meeting conducted by state health officials.

Hazardous materials--including oil, lead and industrial solvents--have been found in the soil of the 243-acre Glassell Park rail center, just south of the Glendale Freeway between San Fernando Road and the Los Angeles River, which has been in use since the turn of the century. Southern Pacific is seeking state permission to remove the contamination so that the railroad can proceed with plans to sell much of the property.

At the public meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. at Glassell Park Elementary School, 2211 W. Avenue 30, community members will be able to comment on the company’s toxic cleanup strategies.

The level of contamination found at the site was not extraordinary, said Richard Hume, Taylor Yard project manager for the California Department of Health Services, Toxic Substances Control Program.

“It’s not that high for an industrial area, but it’s still something that needs to be cleaned up,” he said.

State officials said they have sent several notices concerning the toxic materials to local residents but have received little response.

“In all honesty, I have not heard an awful lot about it,” said Richard E. Ferraro, president of the Glassell Park Improvement Assn.

But Ferraro said community leaders are carefully monitoring several proposals to purchase and develop Taylor Yard acreage. He said the contamination should be removed before any such plans move forward.

Hume said the initial cleanup plan focuses only on removing toxic materials from the soil at Taylor Yard. The underground water supply in the area also shows signs of contamination, but state and federal officials will address that issue in a future study, he said.

Late last year, Southern Pacific sold 67 acres at the southern end of Taylor Yard to the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission for $66 million. The commission plans to build a maintenance center for a proposed five-county commuter rail system on the site.

Most of the land purchased by the commission was determined to be free of toxic contamination, said Richard Stanger, the commission’s director of rail development. One small area required cleanup, he said.

Southern Pacific will retain a 74-acre diesel locomotive maintenance center along the river but plans to sell about 100 remaining acres that are no longer in use at Taylor Yard. State health officials said the toxic cleanup plan focuses on three sites within this acreage:

* The soil stockpile area near the center of Taylor Yard, which contains excavated earth that is contaminated with oil and grease from past train activities.

* The northeast property boundary area, which is tainted with volatile organic compounds and petroleum chemicals. State officials believe that these materials originated as industrial solvents and migrated from adjacent businesses along San Fernando Road.

* The hump yard, an elevated area near the center of Taylor Yard where railroad cars were detached and reassembled in new configurations. The lead and copper found in this soil is believed to have come from metal and paint chips that fell to the ground during the coupling process.

Under Southern Pacific’s cleanup plan, the toxic soil from the stockpile will go to a landfill. The industrial solvents from the northeast area will be removed through a vacuum extraction and treatment process. The hump yard soil will be treated in place with fixation compounds that will keep hazardous metals from contaminating the air or ground water.

After the public meeting, which is required by state law, the Department of Health Services will continue to accept written comments through July 31. Hume said the department then will decide whether to approve the cleanup plan.

Southern Pacific is anxious to begin the cleanup work as soon as possible and hopes to finish by the end of 1991 or early next year, said Mike Furtney, a company spokesman.

He said the property will be more attractive to buyers after the cleanup. Southern Pacific has received no formal offers for the remaining acreage, Furtney said, although he confirmed that the Los Angeles Police Department is considering the site in its search for a location for a new police academy and a high-speed driving school.