Let’s hope the Ascon cleanup begins already

It has become something of an urban legend: Cleanup of the Ascon

toxic waste dump is about to begin.

City leaders tell us that the testing and exploratory work is done

and that the actual cleanup of the site will begin next month. Deja

vu, anyone?

Although cleanup of the site that was a functioning landfill for

five decades has been talked about for years, current work is far

more progressive than ever before.

Seven major oil companies have agreed -- and one is being forced

-- to pay for the cleanup of the Ascon toxic dump, where they

unloaded contaminants for years.

Much of the waste came from oil-drilling operations and included

drilling muds, wastewater brines and other drilling wastes.

From 1957 to 1971, chromic acid, sulfuric acid, fuel oils and a

form of plastic called styrene were dumped on the site, as well as

asphalt, concrete, metal, soil and wood.

Locals have watched a string of developers go bankrupt trying to

carry out plans to clean up and develop the 38-acre site that sits

between the AES Huntington Beach power plant and Edison High School.

As we report the impending cleanup, they, and we, are taking it

all with a grain of salt. We’ve all heard it all before. But

hopefully, through the persistence of the state’s Department of Toxic

Substances Control, funds are on the way to clean up of one of

Southern California’s most contaminated landfills.

They say next month, the three-year cleanup will begin. Everyone

who lives near the landfill is likely watching with a touch of

trepidation. Removing one of the biggest blights would be a coup, but

will it really happen, and at what cost to the neighborhood?

With the companies to blame at last ready to foot the bill, there

is hope that cleanup will, in fact, begin next month. Let’s hope so.