Perhaps as many as four families near the PCH ARCO station have been relocated because of decontamination.
At least two and perhaps as many as four Bridgeport neighborhood families have been relocated from their homes near the Atlantic Richfield Company gas station on Pacific Coast Highway.
Andy D’Esposito told the Sun Newspapers on Sunday, Dec. 27, that his family had been living in the Seal Beach Pacific Inn for approximately one week. He said four families had been moved out of their houses on in the Seal Beach neighborhood of Bridgeport.
D’Esposito said his was one of two families living in the Pacific Inn. Biaggio Zaby confirmed that his family has also been relocated.
The Sun Newspapers has not been able to confirm the identities of the other two families. The ARCO Web site www.bridgeportupdate.com did not mention anything about Bridgeport families being relocated.
However, during the Wednesday evening, Dec. 17 meetings, ARCO representatives indicated the four houses nearest the gas station were a major concern.
Seal Beach City Hall is closed until Monday, Jan. 4, 2010. It was not possible to get official confirmation of the relocations during the Christmas and New Year’s holiday.
There are approximately 25 homes in the contamination zone near the gas station. However, there are 125 homes in the Bridgeport neighborhood. The ARCO station has experienced gas leaks twice—once in the late 1980s and once in 2003. ARCO is currently working on decontaminating the soil in the area surrounding the gas station to eliminate the community’s exposure to the toxic effects of the 2003 gas vapor leak.
On Dec. 17 Darrell Fah, ARCO’s environmental manager, said the 2003 leak essentially “reset the clock” for decontamination efforts.
D’Esposito’s home is in the contaminated zone of Bridgeport. His was one of the four nearest the gas station.
During the Dec. 27 telephone interview, D’Esposito said his family had had a “weird Christmas.”
“A room in the Pacific Inn is not a 2,300 square foot house with a garage,” D’Esposito said.
“My accommodations are a shell of what my house is,” he said.
“I just know I’m not comfortable living where I’m living,” he said.
D’Esposito’s voice cracked with emotion throughout the interview.
He said ARCO gave him three choices: do nothing; live in the house with a treatment system or relocate.
D’Esposito said he wanted his family to relocate to the Oakwood Apartments. However, ARCO did not know how long the D’Esposito family would need to be housed and the Oakwood Apartments apparently required a minimum commitment for residents.
He said his 10-year-old son wanted to have Christmas at home.
D’Esposito said 25 steps from his son’s room is an area so contaminated that the chances of developing cancer are five in 100. He said normal was one in 1 million.
D’Esposito said he and his family are concerned about all the cancers, but particularly the blood cancers.
The D’Esposito family has put their Galleon Way home up for sale. Only one Galleon Way home was listed as being up for sale at the ListingPoint Web site.
D’Esposito said he and his family realized there was going to be an issue with the soil contamination and they made the decision to sell the house. He is concerned about the ARCO value protection program. The program offers to reimburse property owners the difference between the appraised value of their property and the sale price.
However, his home has not been appraised recently.
D’Esposito said it has been difficult showing the house to prospective buyers because of the construction activity related to ARCO’s clean-up efforts.
There is a wall next to the ARCO station. D’Esposito said the trees next to the wall are dying.
