Residents demand PureGro clean-up
BRAWLEY — Residents cut short a presentation on Monday seeking their input about a vacated and toxic brownfield and instead demanded to know whether the site’s contaminated soil would be removed.
The exchange highlighted the East Side residents’ ongoing frustration and impatience regarding the lack of any clean-up of the former PureGro facility, an 11-acre site where agricultural chemicals were formulated, stored and distributed prior to closing in 1996.
In response to the residents’ questions, representatives of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control advised those present that preliminary steps, including soliciting the community’s input, are required before any action is taken.
“One way or another that stockpile (of soil) is going to be removed,” said Peter Garcia, DTSC Southern California division chief. “As soon as the remedial plan is finalized.”
Garcia’s remarks and the dialogue that ensued came about halfway through a community workshop on Monday night that was hosted by the city and its partners in the proposed cleanup effort, including DTSC and the non-profit Center for Creative Land Recycling.
By night’s end, representatives of CCLR were able to complete an interactive presentation that allowed residents to create a construction paper replica of what kinds of development, if any, they would like to see at the former PureGro site, located in the 1000 block of River Drive.
Many of those site mock-ups included residential housing, which would likely present the greatest number of obstacles and amount of time to accomplish.
Currently, the site is zoned for light industrial use and would require the property owner, Chevron, to seek a zoning change if the finalized remedial plan calls for residential development, officials said.
A zoning change that would allow for residential development would also authorize DTSC to mandate that Chevron’s mitigation efforts meet the clean-up standard for a parcel zoned for residential housing, officials said.
By maintaining the lot’s current light industrial zoning designation, clean-up and possible re-use of the site could potentially take place sooner than compared to a remedial plan that called for a zoning change to either commercial or residential.
“If you want to provide input on a new plan other than to remove the stockpile and leave the site for commercial growth, we need to have that input tonight,” Garcia said.
The site mock-ups were to be compiled for commonalities and included in a summary report by CCLR that would then be incorporated into the remedial action plan, which DTSC and Chevron would further discuss, Garcia said.
The remedial plan will also be brought back to the community in about four to six months for public comment as part of the process, Garcia said.
The pending remedial plan will be the second one brought before the community for its input. A previous plan that had called for the onsite burial of the site’s contaminated soil was roundly rejected by the community.
During the workshop, longtime resident Julia Ruiz expressed frustration that clean-up efforts to date have failed to remove the onsite stockpile of soil, which was amassed in 2001 and placed behind perimeter fencing.
A survivor of cancer that she attributes to living near the site, Ruiz said much of Monday’s preliminary discussion felt like the community was getting the runaround again.
“This is what we’re afraid that you’re doing to us by proposing all of these things,” Ruiz said.
An informal survey taken by CCLR at the start of the meeting revealed the majority of the approximately 50 residents in attendance had lived in Brawley for more than 20 years.
Similarly, nearly half of the survey respondents expressed a preference to keep the site as it currently is once the contaminated soil has been removed. About a quarter of respondents stated it should be redeveloped as quickly as possible.
City officials were also on hand to answer any questions and concerns and ensure residents that they are working toward an agreeable solution.
“The city wants to see positive changes that incorporate the stockpile removal,” said City Manager Rosanna Bayon Moore. “But your input is needed.”
The site is bordered on its western boundary by railroad tracks, which may prove a nuisance for a residential tract but could be a selling point for light industrial usage such as an agricultural company, officials said.
“There are hurdles to different kinds of development on this site,” said Alex Steinberger, CCLR program manager. “Some have more hurdles to overcome than others.”