Buck Wargo
CITY HALL -- The Walt Disney Co. would be required to test soil at its
125-acre campus for chromium 6 and other chemicals and metals before
constructing any buildings on the site, according to the final draft of
an Environmental Impact Report released Monday.
The mitigation measure, which Disney would have to follow if the
report is certified by the Glendale Redevelopment Agency, is in response
to concerns raised by members of state agencies and the Glendale
Homeowners Coordinating Council that more soil investigation at the site
was needed.
The first draft of the report called on Disney to sample any soil that
is discolored or have an odor. Parcels in the industrial park have been
designed a federal Superfund site because of solvents in the soil. The
former Grand Central Airport also has buried gasoline tanks.
Jeanne Armstrong, the city's director of the Development Services
Department, said her staff asked the EIR consultant to add the more
stringent language requiring testing on soil before any construction. She
said the testing was even more important in light of concerns raised by
the release of a report in July about the carcinogen chromium 6 in the
ground water.
"We just thought this would be an extra level of protection,"
Armstrong said. "Hopefully, this will address the concerns that everyone
has raised."
State laws already require soil sampling by the developer if there is
a potential for contaminated soil. Developers are also required to work
with the state agencies in extracting vapors, removing contaminated soil
and treating ground water extracted during excavation.
Jim Weling, a member of a coordinating council panel that studied the
Disney report, said requiring the testing goes a long way in dealing with
the environmental problems at the site. Panel members have said a lack of
knowledge of what is in the soil could cause people to get cancer because
of excavation.
"God only knows what went into the ground there," Weling said.
The toughened EIR language has the backing of Disney, said Ed Chuchla,
development director of Walt Disney Imagineering. He said the company
would never do anything to place its employees and others at risk.
"What we have said all along is that the health of our employees,
guests and people around it are the No. 1 concern of this company,"
Chuchla said. "The mitigation measure is acceptable and appropriate."
The final EIR included new language on health threats to children
