BP/ARCO has told Orange County health officials it will finally complete a 25-year odyssey to clean up pollution in Seal Beach caused by leaky underground tanks by as early as next summer.
To complete the clean-up, the ARCO gas station at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Fifth Street will be torn down and earth beneath the station will be excavated and trucked to a safe location, said Darrell Fah, the company’s operations project manager, in a letter last week to the Orange County Health Care Agency.
The “dig and haul” clean-up method had been advocated by residents, the city and a volunteer technical committee that had been advising the city on effective contamination removal techniques. In August, the Health Care Agency ordered the oil company to use the excavation method to rid the ground of pollutants.