Déjà vu at Ascon-Nesi

Nearly a year ago, we wrote the following about the Ascon-Nesi toxic waste dump site: “City leaders tell us that the testing and exploratory work is done and that the actual cleanup of the site will begin next month. Déjà vu, anyone?”

Now, cleanup crews actually have finished an emergency cleanup -- yes, it took fears that toxic materials could spill into the streets if we had a repeat of last winter’s unusually heavy rains to prompt action -- and in March the state Department of Toxic Substances Control is supposed to present the City Council several different plans for cleaning up the site.

Déjà vu, anyone? Unfortunately, it is. But perhaps this time around, cleanup actually will happen and this ruin of a site will be made ready for a long-awaited, and much-needed, transformation. There is talk of it being turned into open space, though the cost of cleaning it up certainly would seem to demand a return on the investment -- say in a new housing development?

That is the hopeful interpretation of events. Given the progress of cleaning up the Ascon site, to be that hopeful seems a bit naïve. It is encouraging, certainly, that City Councilman Don Hansen suggested to the Independent that the city would be a “very active commentator” on the Department of Toxic Substances Control’s plan as it goes through an environmental review.

But, again, it also sounds too familiar. There has always been talk but no substantive action. And nothing has been easy or quick when it comes to cleanup work here. It has been nearly three years, after all, since seven oil companies agreed to pay for the cleanup.

Perhaps now that cleanup finally is about to happen. Or perhaps in another year Huntington Beach, especially its southeastern part, will be experiencing a severe case of déjà vu.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

When will the Ascon-Tesi site finally be cleaned up? Call our Readers Hotline at (714) 966-4691 or send e-mail to hbindependent@latimes.com. Please spell your name and include your hometown and phone number for verification purposes.