DISTRICT TO STUDY SITE FOR HAZARDS RECORDS SHOW OIL WELLS, TANKS.

Byline: Orith Goldberg Staff Writer

NEWHALL - A search through historic records has prompted the Newhall School District to finance a study for hazardous waste on land planned for its next elementary school.

Old oil wells and oil tanks might have been located on a 10-acre property north of San Fernando Road, the site planned as J. Michael McGrath Elementary School, named for the district's former superintendent.

The school district will pay about $12,000 for an evaluation by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control as a precautionary measure.

The discovery came as district's consultants delved through historical records as part of the process of buying the land. The research is required to ascertain how land for schools previously has been used.

While district officials don't anticipate any problems as a result of the finding, they have requested the state's evaluation to quell any doubts about the possibility of contaminants on the property, school officials said.

``Part of our agreement with the owner is that it has to be a usable site,'' said the district's assistant superintendent of business, Don Hughes.

The school board unanimously approve funding last week for the evaluation.

The property, at Dockweiler Drive and Valle de Oro, is expected to cost $4 million to $5 million. Construction of the school, designed to serve 760 students, will cost $7 million to $8 million, district Superintendent Marc Winger said.

Half of the cost will be financed through Measure K bonds, while the district plans to seek money from the state for the remainder.

Since problems have arisen with contaminants discovered on Los Angeles Unified School District sites, extra caution has been taken with land purchased for schools statewide.

The district's consultants, Palmdale-based Earth Systems of Southern California, learned of the oil wells and tanks while searching through the Munger Map Book of California and Alaska Oil and Gas Fields. The book indicated the presence of four oil wells and two oil tanks on the southwest corner of the property or adjacent to the property between 1952 and 1976. Only one of the four wells appeared to be completed, Hughes said.

``There were no reports of spillage,'' Hughes said. ``There was no evidence of soil stains, distressed vegetation or anything indicating a problem.''

The evaluation process generally takes about six to eight weeks, DTSC spokesman Otis Jackson said.

The DTSC initially develops a site history and assesses land uses along with ownership and transfer of ownership. A work plan is then developed as to how to conduct sampling of the soil and what types of soil samples will be taken, Jackson said.

Finally, a risk assessment, or finding, will describe both the short-term and long-term effects any pollutants could have on teachers, staffers and students, Jackson said.

While the DTSC, a division of the state Environmental Protection Agency, evaluates the site, a school design committee composed of parents and staffers will meet to approve the school's conceptual design.

The district also is preparing for the modernization of Wiley Canyon Elementary School and expects to have the design for Wiley's main building replicated at the McGrath site, saving money and time as state approval is required.

School officials had set a target date of July 2001 for McGrath's opening, but that remains tentative as the district awaits the results of the site evaluation.