Company: Cleanup of controversial toxic waste dump in California’s Central Valley complete

Company: Cleanup complete at Calif. toxic dump

KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. — The company that runs the Central California landfill where nearby residents complain that toxins have caused a number of birth defects in their town said Thursday it has cleaned up contaminated areas cited by federal investigators.

Chemical Waste Management Inc. said a thorough cleanup of a storage building and an adjacent soil area at its Kettleman Hills Facility exceeded federal requirements, the building’s floor has been re-coated, and clean soil has been brought in.

The company also has “implemented new processes and procedures, including more frequent soil testing, to ensure continued compliance with all regulations,” said Bob Henry, senior district manager for the facility.

Last month the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the facility had violated the Toxic Substances Control Act by improperly disposing of PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls — chemicals linked to cancer and other health effects.

It also faulted the dump — the largest hazardous waste facility in the West — with failing to decontaminate structures prior to continued use.

The EPA had tested the site between Feb. 8-12 as part of its compliance investigation.

Nahal Mogharabi, a spokeswoman for the EPA in San Francisco, said she could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.

The facility has been at the center of a fight with residents who blame it for a seemingly high number of birth defects in nearby Kettleman City.

A survey done by Greenaction, an environmental justice group, found that of 20 children born in the area from September 2007 to November 2008, five had defects, including clefts in their palates or lips.

State health officials said in February they found nothing unusual about the rate of infant birth defects in the impoverished farm town, but they emphasized the findings were preliminary.

Federal environmental officials announced earlier this year they would investigate the situation, including whether the EPA had dropped the ball on past complaints.