Residents to Vote, Express Views on Fuel Storage Site : Referendum: Officials hope to send a message to the Department of Defense that residents are fearful of an explosion and environmental contamination.

Norwalk residents will vote in April on whether the U.S. Department of Defense should continue to store millions of gallons of highly flammable jet fuel next to hundreds of homes and a heavily used park.

The advisory measure, unanimously approved for the ballot by the City Council Tuesday night, will have no binding impact on the Department of Defense. It is the latest move in the city’s ongoing campaign to have the jet fuel storage facility removed from Norwalk. The municipal election is scheduled for April 14.

City officials and local residents have long opposed the tank facility because of the potential for fire and explosion, and because fuel leaks over the years have caused environmental problems.

The facility is located on the southeast corner of Norwalk Boulevard and Excelsior Drive, next to Holifield Park and residential neighborhoods. It contains 12 tanks that hold a total of 38 million gallons of jet fuel. It supplies military bases in California and Nevada via truck shipments and through a network of government and private underground pipelines.

So far, the Defense Department has rebuffed Norwalk officials and Rep. Esteban E. Torres (D-La Puente), who has championed the city’s cause. Last year, Torres asked Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to close the facility.

But Department of Defense officials have maintained that the facility provides an essential service, and it would be too costly to move it elsewhere.

Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. David Herrick said the Defense Fuel Supply Center takes the feelings of the community into consideration. The department has invested $3 million to make the facility earthquake-safe, and additional studies on water contamination are to begin in December, he said. But Norwalk officials say they want residents to be heard.

“We respect the government and the process,” Mayor Mike Mendez said. “But our feeling is that they think we are not speaking for the community. By putting it on the ballot, we hope Washington will take more notice and see how the people of Norwalk feel.”

In a telephone interview, Torres said he supports the City Council’s decision.

“Though the referendum has no legal authority, it would send a message to the federal government that there is discontent among the residents of Norwalk.”

Norwalk resident Robert Stock agreed. Stock lives on a street near the tanks and has been lobbying for years to have the facility moved.

“This action will not force the government to do anything but will show the will of the people and hopefully put pressure on them,” Stock said.

Concern about the tank farm escalated after a 1989 study by Libby Engineers of San Diego that said a strong earthquake could cause the tanks to leak and electrical connections to spark, which could trigger an explosion.

The Department of Defense pledged to make $1.7 million in improvements suggested by the study. That work is in progress, officials said.

The tank farm has also raised environmental concerns. Tests revealed that petroleum products from the tank farm have contaminated soil on the site and seeped beyond the southern boundary of the facility.

According to the Department of Defense, tests conducted in January revealed fuel in soil and ground water about six feet beyond the southern boundary of the tank farm, a few feet from several homes and apartment buildings.

But the relatively shallow contamination apparently has not affected the city’s water supply, officials said. Water companies serving Norwalk draw their water from depths of 240 to 1,250 feet, well below the contamination. But city officials are not convinced that the contamination will not taint the city’s water supply.

More testing is scheduled to determine the full extent of the contamination, said Dan Keen, deputy city manager.

Local residents said the contamination is beginning to affect nearby real estate.

Norwalk resident Arnold Telder said the Bellflower branch of Great Western Bank initially refused to refinance his home mortgage with a fixed-rate loan last month.

“They told me financially I was A-OK, but because of environmental reasons, they could not grant me the loan,” Telder said.

The loan agent told Telder that the bank reviewed a study on the contamination before eventually deciding to grant the loan.

Representatives from Great Western Bank declined comment.

The Department of Defense has held fast against the opposition, but it did hire a consultant to study whether it would be feasible to move the tanks.

The July, 1991, study, prepared by Dames & Moore, a Phoenix consulting firm, found it would be too expensive to move the tanks. The study said it would cost the Department of Defense about $16 million to run the facility in Norwalk for the next 20 years compared to $69 million if it is relocated on government property and $91 million if the government pays a private firm to store the fuel.