CLEANUP STUDIES PLANNED KERN COUNTY, EAFB DEAL WITH EX-DUMP.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Air Force officials plan to test soil beneath old tires, rusting cans and other debris just inside the Edwards Air Force Base boundary near a long-closed Kern County dump.

Meanwhile, Kern County officials are looking to clean up the trash on their side of the barbed-wire fence marking Edwards' western border.

The site - covering about 45 or 50 acres just north of Rosamond Boulevard and straddling the property line where Edwards and Rosamond meet - is a challenge for county and Air Force officials because of regulations and laws governing how they can spend their funds.

``We can't clean up anything off base and they (Kern County) can't clean up anything on base,'' said Gary Hatch, spokesman for Environmental Management at Edwards.

Furthermore, the funding Edwards receives for environmental restoration cannot be used for removing surface debris, by federal regulation. However, the funding can be used to remove debris in areas where testing work will be done.

``We intended to remove as much of the surface debris as we are allowed to,'' said Layi Oyelowo, project manager for the Environmental Restoration Program at Edwards.

The heart of the area needing cleanup is a 10-acre site that was a Kern County dump from 1946 to 1973. As was the practice of the time, rubbish was put into a trench and burned. The ash was later covered with dirt. Metal items, such as cans, were put off to one side.

But other rubbish - such as old tires, cans and broken concrete - accumulated around the borders of the dump, much of it on what is now Air Force property.

Testing done for both Edwards and Kern County have not found any toxic materials at concentrations labeled a health risk, but the Air Force is planning to follow a consultant's recommendation for further testing on their side of the fence line.

Edwards is spending $600,000 for a contractor, FPM Group Ltd. - Engineering and Environmental Science, to conduct an investigation of the site.

For both the Air Force and county officials, the area located roughly a quarter of a mile away from Rosamond's most eastern housing tract is an eyesore.

Kern County officials are waiting to hear from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a grant application for cleanup funds, said Don Maben, field representative for Kern County Supervisor Steve Perez.

Maben, who will replace Perez as supervisor on Dec. 12, had made cleaning up litter and illegal dumping a major issue of his campaign.

``If there's a way to get it cleaned up I'm going to do it for them,'' Maben said.

In 1991, state water regulators directed the county to test the former burn dump. Testing found small amounts of contaminants such as gasoline and diesel in groundwater, but not at levels requiring further work under state law.

Testing of the ash from the burn dump found dioxin, a suspected carcinogen, but it was at levels below the federal and state standard of 1 part per billion for cleanup action.

In 1993, Edwards hired a consultant to investigate the area outside of the dump.

Groundwater tests have shown trace amounts of contaminants. The consultants recommended sampling underneath surface debris and installing additional monitoring wells.

A draft work plan for the Air Force testing is being reviewed by environmental regulators. Testing work is expected to be done in the spring.

Base officials said they hope to have recommendations for cleaning up contamination ready by summer.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, map

Photo:

(1) Thomas Doriski, left, and Gary Hatch of FPM Group Ltd., the engineering firm hired by Edwards, inspect the area Monday.

(2) A complicating factor in a site-cleanup planned for Rosamond is that part is on Edwards AFB and part in Kern County.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

Map:

Illegal dump site