State Sues Navy for Expenses of Toxic Cleanup : Environment: Bill for work done at Paradise Hills neighborhood, built on former dump, comes to $450,000.

Alleging that the U.S. Navy is responsible for contaminating a Paradise Hills neighborhood with asbestos and lead, the state of California on Friday sued the Navy for $450,000--the cost of a partial cleanup the state completed last year.

The state Department of Toxic Substances Control claims that, in the 1930s, the Navy dumped lead-based paints, asbestos insulation and other materials in a private dump at the site.

In 1988, after homes were built on the land, a swimming pool contractor unearthed what turned out to be toxic debris. County and state health officials were alerted and, two years later, when a cleanup of the exposed earth around four homes was completed, the state paid the price: $450,633.65.

Now, inspired in part by evidence gathered in another lawsuit filed by one of the affected homeowners, Gloria Price, the state attorney general’s office is convinced that the Navy should foot the bill.

“Because (the Navy) . . . transported hazardous substances to, and disposed of such substances at, the site, and because there has been a release and threatened release of such substances at the site, (the Navy) is liable,” alleges the suit, filed in U.S. District Court.

The suit is welcome news to Price, who filed a related suit against the Navy and other parties in 1989, one year after the swimming pool contractor discovered deadly pollutants in her back yard in the 6000 block of Edgewater Street. Her lawyer, John Reaves, has located witnesses who say they remember that, in the late 1930s, Navy trucks arrived regularly at the site to dump waste.

It was on the basis of these recollections recorded by Reaves that the state decided to file suit, said Deputy Atty. Gen. Dennis Ragen.

“We read his depositions,” he said. “There was enough evidence to justify our filing suit.”

On Friday, Reaves said he was pleased the state had “joined forces” with his client. Reaves is seeking nearly $500,000 in damages to further clean up Price’s property--specifically, the land under her home and her driveway.

The state’s suit “adds credibility to our case,” Reaves said, predicting that the two suits will be consolidated. “All the issues are identical. . . . We will now have the additional resources of the state on our side.”

Navy legal officials in Washington were not reachable late Friday. In the past, Navy spokesmen have not accepted responsibility, saying they have found no records to show the toxins were from the Navy.

Ragen said he has been in contact with the Navy, and he hopes future discussions can resolve the state’s suit out of court. Before the suit was filed, he said, the Navy did not respond to a formal request for payment.

“The state sent a demand letter to the Navy for the money . . . and the department did not get a check,” he said. “But we are looking forward to working it out with the Navy without further litigation.”

The earlier suit, meanwhile, has been delayed several times at the request of the Navy, Reaves said. No hearing date is scheduled.

Reaves said he has taken a deposition from a former National City police chief who remembers playing near the dump as a child. When the Navy trucks would drive up, the man recalled, he would often stop them before they entered the dump in order to scavenge for free Navy memorabilia.

Reaves says he also has copies of city variances obtained by the owner of the dump. In 1934, the owner got permission to operate the dump for 18 months on several lots, Reaves said. In 1936, he was granted an extension--but only on the lots where the contamination has since been found.

Reaves believes that indicates that the dump operations were on those parcels. And he says he has found witnesses who recall that those same parcels were where the dump owner stored the lead-, copper- and zinc-based paints that were dumped there.

Other items found on Price’s property indicate that the Navy was one of the dump’s regular customers, Reaves said. The excavation unearthed a knife and fork with a Navy insignia, other mess hall gear, two portholes and some boiler bricks.

Lead can cause anemia and mental disturbances, as well as kidney, liver and nerve damage. Zinc and copper can accumulate in the human body and damage the cornea and nervous system. The asbestos found in Price’s yard is not dangerous to the touch but can cause cancer if breathed.

Price has also sued the builder of her house and Sylvan Pools, the contractor that dug the hole for the pool that exposed the toxic waste. Price says she found out about the toxins from the landfill where the dirt was dumped, and she maintains that Sylvan was negligent in not telling her.

Once the toxins were discovered, health officials collected soil samples throughout the neighborhood to determine the scope of the contamination.