Seal Beach, Saying Enough is Enough, Wants BP/ARCO to Remove Contaminated Soil

David Falconer/National Archives

​After three decades of trying to end contamination from a gasoline station leak in Seal Beach, the City Council has voted to direct BP/ARCO to dig out the tainted soil.

The company was asked 25 years ago to do something about the contamination at PCH and Fifth Street that was linked to fumes that seeped into neighboring homes last winter, causing three temporary evacuations.

The council vote was unanimous.

Tracy Wood has the scoop on the Voice of OC.

"We want to solve the problem and move on," City Manager David Carmany reportedly said of the contamination problem during Monday night's council meeting. "We don't want to be doing this for the next 20 years. Enough."

The city sent a letter Tuesday to the Orange County Health Care Agency asking that it adopt an excavation plan with "significant" changes from BP/ARCO's original cleanup proposal.

David Falconer/National Archives

​Seal Beach officials and residents of the Bridgeport neighborhood that experienced the fumes for months have been calling for a "dig and haul" excavation technique that would have BP/ARCO digging and hauling off soil until all contamination is removed. However, residents and the city decided to wait until all options proposed by the oil company were presented before formally asking for that technique.

"Dig and haul" was only one alternative BP/ARCO came up with.

Meanwhile, there are fears the cancer-causing toxins like Benzene are present in the soil under the station.

"If the problem extends into the street, we want them to chase it and remove it," Carmany reportedly says in the Voice of OC post. "If the problem extends into the alley (next to homes), we want them to remove that as well."

Good thing BP has nothing else on its oily hands to deal with right now.