Los Angeles residents are speaking out against the demolition of the Jordan Downs public housing complex because the possibility of lead contamination of the soil on site, a report by Southern California Public Radio (SCPR) says. While contamination is yet to be determined, the city is still going through with demolition.
A mixed-use development is planned to replace to housing, the report says. Demolition plans include the property next door, a former steel mill that is now identified as a brownfield after the city found lead, arsenic, cadmium and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) on the site.
Limited early testing of the soil showed high lead levels, which caused residents to become concerned that the pollution next door drifted to the Jordan Downs site. Residents are calling on city officials for more soil samples and a cleanup, according to the report.
The report says that the California Department of Toxic Substances Control sent a letter to the Los Angeles Housing Authority to conduct soil sampling during demolition.
Doug Guthrie, head of the Los Angeles Housing Authority, told SCPR that his agency recently collected soil samples and will expect results in three weeks, but that the tests will not delay demolition.
According to the public radio station, state Department of Toxic Substances Control officials found high levels of lead in the soil at Jordan Downs in 2014, but decided a cleanup was not necessary and issued a “no further action” determination. The soil sample results ranged from 80 parts per million to 145 parts per million. The state has set 80 parts per million as a residential bar for cleanup.
Activists in the neighborhood have rented an XRF gun, the same technology used by state and local officials, and found at least 50 samples with high lead levels, the report says.
At Jordan Downs, the four buildings to be demolished are being prepped for take down. Guthrie said in the report that part of that process is taking steps to minimize dust clouds, like putting up fences and wetting down large piles of dirt.