EPA begins soil cleanup at Southern Avenue Industrial Area Superfund site in South Gate

By The Southbound 105 SOUTH GATE, Calif. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun cleanup at a contaminated industrial site in South Gate known as the Southern Avenue Industrial Area Superfund site, LAist reported Aug. 25. EPA officials leading the effort broke ground Tuesday on soil remediation at the long-empty property, according to LAist. The agency estimates soil cleanup will take about two months. Groundwater cleanup planning is expected to start in 2027 and could take a year or more. The overall effort is estimated to cost between $45 million and $60 million, primarily through federal dollars, LAist reported. The small southeast Los Angeles County city was built on industry and boomed in the early 20th century with auto, chemical and other manufacturers. That legacy left South Gate with three Superfund sites clustered on a large lot framed by Southern and Rayo avenues, near a residential neighborhood, according to LAist. “This site is less than 50 yards away from a home, so we want to make sure that we clean it to a point where we can feel confident,” South Gate Mayor Joshua Barron said, according to LAist. South Gate is home to about 90,000 people, the majority of whom are Latino. The median household income is about $74,500, and the state has identified the city and surrounding communities as disproportionately burdened by pollution and its health effects, LAist reported. The Southern Avenue Industrial Area housed a screw manufacturing business for 30 years, then a carpet adhesive plant. Both businesses are now defunct. The federal government designated the site as a Superfund site in 2012, according to LAist. Pollution at the property was compounded by contamination from companies next door. One adjacent Superfund site was used by Cooper Drum Co., a steel drum recycling plant. A group of Cooper Drum’s former customers, including chemical manufacturers and oil companies, are paying for part of that cleanup. The other neighboring site, previously operated by an aircraft rivet and conveyor belt manufacturer, remains in the analysis and planning stages, LAist reported. Analyses commissioned by the EPA found widespread lead and other toxic contamination in the soil at the Southern Avenue site, as well as a plume of trichloroethylene, a carcinogen, in the groundwater, according to LAist. Officials say the plume has not affected the deeper aquifer that South Gate and other southeast Los Angeles cities rely on for drinking water. In 1986, the city closed water wells contaminated by the neighboring Cooper Drum site, LAist reported. “The water is safe to drink, said Mike Montgomery, Superfund director for the EPA, according to LAist. “What we’re trying to do is prevent it from becoming impacted.” LAist noted that Superfund cleanups can take years: sites must be listed, contamination must be analyzed, responsible parties identified, cleanup plans developed and funding secured. California has 97 sites on the National Priorities List, according to the report. EPA project manager Kelia Liang explained the cleanup effort at the South Gate site on Tuesday, LAist reported. The EPA said cleanup at the lot could take a few months for the soil and a year or longer for the groundwater. --- Sources: - https://laist.com/news/climate-environment/cleanup-begins-at-superfund-site-south-gate