EDITORIAL

Drive by the Ascon site in Southeast Huntington Beach, and the first

thing that comes to mind is that it is unbelievable that such prime

property is undeveloped.

But a deeper look, literally, uncovers the reason: For years, Ascon

was used as a dump for drilling mud, fuel oil, chromic acid, sulfuric

acid, aluminum slag and styrene (a form of plastic).

More recently, solid materials like asphalt, concrete, soil and wood

were dumped there. The mix is a costly stew of toxic chemicals that

likely will take more than $30 million to clean up.

The encouraging news is that by August, there may be a plan to get rid

of the waste lurking in the ground there. Early estimates place the cost

for the cleanup at $31.5 million, with the cost of handling the ground

water pollution still unknown.

It is a daunting number. But there are several recent developments

that give reason to hope that this time the cleanup will happen.

First, the Planning Commission last month approved a redevelopment

plan for the southeast part of town, which could pump money and city

interest into fixing up the area. Now, the City Council needs to take a

critical look at the idea, as redevelopment is invariably an extremely

emotional issue for residents who live in the redevelopment area. But

used wisely, such plans can cause dramatic improvements.

Second, there is a series of deep pockets lining up from which money

can be taken to pay for the cleanup. Nine major oil and chemical

companies involved in talks about what to do with the site.

Finally, there is the lure of the payoff: the tens of million of

dollars (or more) that could be made by developing some 500 homes on the

38-acre property. While this prize has hung there for years, combined

with the above developments, it becomes ever sweeter for a developer.

The cleanup won’t come easily, of course, and it won’t come quickly.

It could take years of planning, and even optimistic city guesses are

five years, possibly 10. But it needs to happen, for a host of reasons

ranging from the benefit of property taxes for the city to the benefit of

new homes in a tight real estate market, not to mention the benefit of

having that area (which is just across the street from Edison High

School) clean.

It seems worth millions, doesn’t it?