DANGER! BELMONT TOXINS SPREAD TO NEIGHBORS.

Byline: Greg Gittrich Daily News Staff Writer

High levels of a foul, poisonous gas have been detected around houses adjacent to the Belmont Learning Center, and residents in the area say the problem grew considerably worse after construction crews graded the nearby property for the nation's costliest high school.

A noxious smell, similar to rotten eggs, pervades several residential streets on a hill north of the complex. The nauseating odor is strongest - and most dangerous - at a three-story wooden house in the 100 block of Edgeware Street perched above Belmont's football field.

State, county and independent environmental inspectors said the odor is hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas that attacks the central nervous system and can be lethal if inhaled over a prolonged period.

Since hydrogen sulfide is a natural, hazardous byproduct of petroleum, the gas has probably been emitted in small quantities around the site of the $170 million school, which sits above the Los Angeles City Oil Field, for centuries.

But residents said the stench worsened as excavation and construction at Belmont went forward. State officials halted all new construction at the site in February amid a cloud of environmental concerns that escalated the controversy that has dogged the project.

``We've been here 60 years, and the smell of gas is so bad now. It was never this way before,'' said Vernia Ferrer, who lives on Edgeware Street with her 91-year-old husband, Edward.

The hydrogen sulfide problem is the latest to surface in a continuing Daily News investigation of environmental concerns that threaten completion of construction of the school, which was sold as a bold, new experiment in public-private partnership with Kajima construction company.

Among the disclosures are revelations of lax practices that allowed oil-contaminated dirt to be mixed with good soil during the site's grading and documentation of the severity of the problems associated with the old, shallow oil and gas field that sits below the site.

Investigation launched

State and Los Angeles Unified School District officials have opened an investigation into these problems.

The hydrogen sulfide problem prompted LAUSD officials to confer with the state Division of Oil and Gas and the state Department of Toxic Substances Control to determine if excavation of tons of soil at Belmont may have exacerbated the seepage around nearby homes.

State Oil and Gas officials are investigating whether the vapors are coming from an improperly abandoned oil well or a natural vein of oil that runs under the Belmont site and surfaces near the homes. The investigation, which began last week, is expected to be completed within a few days and include exact toxicity measurements of hydrogen sulfide in the area, officials said.

Residents summoned the city Fire Department and County HAZMAT workers 10 days ago, and officials determined that levels of hydrogen sulfide in the air did not present an escalating health danger or need to evacuate the area.

But that same day and in later tests, Dr. Bernard Endres, an independent petroleum engineer, measured hydrogen sulfide levels in the soil outside the Ferrers' house at deadly levels, 348 parts per million.

Endres, a lead investigator on the infamous methane explosion on Fairfax Avenue during the late 1980s, said removal of more than 40 feet of soil and clay at Belmont during site preparation, along with the addition of a layer of clean soil, likely changed migration patterns in an unconsolidated layer of sediment between the natural vein of oil and the school site.

Test results

Preliminary results from the state-mandated new battery of environmental tests at Belmont have found a few low readings of hydrogen sulfide and one isolated high reading of 3,300 parts per million coming from a very deep vapor boring, according to the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.

``Soil movement and construction at Belmont may have influenced (the apparent increase of hydrogen sulfide in the area.) But it wouldn't be surprising if it's unrelated to Belmont and related to only the oil field,'' said Angelo Bellomo, the top environmental consultant on Los Angeles Unified's School Safety Team.

According to Bellomo, district officials are not distressed about the levels of hydrogen sulfide detected thus far at Belmont and are waiting for the remaining results before devising a remediation plan.

If mitigation is necessary, Bellomo said, an active system of blowers and vents, which state inspectors already say will be necessary to ventilate explosive methane gas rising from the site, can be designed to treat and release hydrogen sulfide into the air without adverse health effects.

Assemblyman Scott Wildman, D-Glendale, has asked the county Department of Health Services to conduct an evaluation of the neighborhood to determine if levels of hydrogen sulfide and ailments associated with the poison have increased since August 1997, when excavation began.

Health dangers

Low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide (20-150 parts per million) can cause irritation of the eyes and headaches upon contact; slightly higher concentrations or prolonged exposure to lower levels lead to impaired vision and balance, loss of memory and death.

A brief exposure to 500 parts per million leads to headaches, dizziness, diarrhea, bronchitis and pneumonia, and exposure of 800-1,000 parts per million can be fatal after 30 minutes.

``If you're listing the effects of even higher concentrations, you can start with sudden death,'' said Dr. Kaye Kilburn, a professor at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, who has studied the neurological effects of hydrogen sulfide for 15 years.

``The toxicity in the soil (on Edgeware Road) is about 1,000 times higher than it takes to smell the rotten egg gas. It's getting up in the level of toxicity that causes sudden death.''

``The damage is done as you take the breath. The toxic gas goes from your lungs to the circulation system to the brain. There is no detoxification in the body to take care of it or protect you.''

BENEATH BELMONT

The hydrogen sulfide fumes that plague the Belmont Learning Center development area are explained by a 1961 geological study. A cross section of the area shows the existence of a natural oil vein 500 feet below ground that breaks the surface 500 feet north of the complex.

(1) Oil is transferred through the water from a larger, deeper oil well, thereby constantly feeding the oil vein.

(2) The natural oil seeps into the soil.

(3) Hydrogen Sulfide fumes, a natural byproduct of the oil, emanate from the oil-impacted ground.

HYDROGEN SULFIDE FACTS

- On the EPA Extremely Hazardous Substances list

- A poison gas that induces suffocation 

- If introduced gradually, olfactory senses can be numbed, preventing discovery

- Minimal exposure causes irritation of the eyes

- Slightly higher exposure causes irritation of the upper respiratory tract 

- Prolonged exposure cause pulmonary edema, coma, death

SOURCES: Dr. Bernard Endres, Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Map, Drawing

PHOTO (1--Color) Vernia and Edward Ferrer stand on the porch of their home that overlooks Belmont.

(2--Color) Bernard Endres, an independent petroleum scientist, holds dirt from the Ferrers' yard.

John Lazar/Daily News

MAP: Belmont Development and Echo Park area

DRAWING: (Color) BENEATH BELMONT (see text)

Bradford Mar/Daily News