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More homes in Rancho Palos Verdes landslide area to lose gas service By City News Service
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nother 54 homes impacted by continuing land movement in Rancho Palos Verdes were expected to lose natural gas service Friday, further adding to the woes faced by residents in danger of losing their homes entirely due to the slide. According to the Southern California Gas Co., gas service was to be cut off at 3 p.m. Friday to 29 homes in the western Seaview area and 25 homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club. In a statement, the utility said a “sudden gas line break” occurred Aug. 30 on Exultant Drive in the Seaview area, and as a result “there is no way to safely continue gas service to 16 homes on Admirable Drive, eight homes on Dauntless Drive and five homes on Palos Verdes Drive.” Issues with a separate gas line on Palos Verdes Drive South — which previously prompted the discontinuation of gas service to 135 homes in the Portuguese Bend area in late July — will now prompt the cutting off of service Friday to 25
The ongoing landslide impacts a home’s driveway in the Portuguese Bend area of Rancho Palos Verdes. | Photo courtesy of AlphaStructural/Imgur
homes in the Portuguese Bend Beach Club area, with the affected residences on Sea Urchin Lane, Seascape Road, Seawall Road, Spindrift Drive, Spindrift Lane and Yacht Harbor Drive. “At this time, SoCalGas does not know when it will
be safe to restore service to these communities,” according to SoCalGas. “We understand this situation remains difficult and uncertain for many in the community. Emergency disaster relief may be available to customers affected by these
shutoffs. More information about SoCalGas’ Emergency Disaster Relief program can be found at socalgas.com/ EDR.” Rancho Palos Verdes city officials said there are no evacuation orders in place for the Seaview or Portu-
guese Bend Beach Club areas, so residents are free to remain in their homes, even if they have lost gas and/or electrical service. On Monday, Southern California Edison cut electricity service to 105 residences in the Seaview area
impacted by the landslide concerns, although 47 of those were expected to have their service restored within 24 hours. City officials said service was restored Thursday night to 34 homes along Dauntless Drive near Ladera Linda Community Park, where power had been expected to be off for as much as three weeks. On Sunday, 140 homes in the Portuguese Bend community had their electrical service turned off. Those residents were placed under an evacuation warning, although many of them have opted to remain in their homes. Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency Tuesday in the city in an effort to free up state resources to assist in the response. “The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services has been coordinating with the city and county for nearly a year to support the response to the land movement, including providing techniSee Gas service Page 28
EPA proposes Superfund designation for Exide site in Vernon By Joe Taglieri joet@beaconmedianews.com
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he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed adding a former lead-processing and battery recycling site in Vernon to the Superfund National Priorities List, which would make it eligible to receive federal funding for long-term cleanup efforts. The Exide Technologies Inc. facility, 2700 S. Indiana St., operated from 1922-2014, and groundwater sampling
from on-site monitoring wells since the 1980s consistently has shown trichloroethylene, or TCE, levels “an order of magnitude higher than those in nearby wells,” according to an EPA report. TCE contamination in the facility’s south yard is four times higher than the acceptable levels for public drinking water supplies. Gov. Gavin Newsom welcomed the proposed
Superfund designation. “This is a huge step forward in our critical work to protect surrounding communities from Exide’s toxic legacy,” he said in a statement. “The Superfund designation would bring in vital federal resources to further the state’s ongoing cleanup — one of the largest in U.S. history. We look forward to continued progress with federal partners to remedy
this decades-long injustice and do right by our communities.” In July 2022, officials from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control requested that the EPA assess the former Exide facility to see if it was eligible for Superfund status. To date, state efforts have remediated lead contamination for more than 5,300 properties in the surrounding
area, which is disproportionately burdened by pollution, according to Newsom’s office. California has spent more than $770 million to clean up contamination that resulted from Exide’s lead and battery operations. The EPA is accepting public comments on the proposed Superfund designation until Nov. 4. On Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m., the agency will conduct a virtual public
information session about the proposal and offer tips on how to submit comments. “The proposal to add Exide to the Superfund list is the first step in a process, and we will be 100% committed to engaging and gathering feedback from the community the entire way,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional AdminSee Exide Page 28