DWP MAY RECEIVE TAB FOR CLEANUP OF TOXIC SITE.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The Los Angeles DWP is one of dozens of former customers of a defunct hazardous waste dump in West Covina that could be stuck with the bill for its cleanup - a tab that could total hundreds of millions of dollars.

BKK Corp. served notice last fall that it could no longer afford to maintain the dump, which closed in 1984. Because hazardous waste laws mandate that those who generate the material are forever responsible for it, the Department of Water and Power was told it was now responsible for some of the cleanup and maintenance costs.

``The waste has to be taken care of forever,'' said Marilee Hanson, senior staff counsel for Department of Toxic Substances Control, which regulates the dump.

``(It costs) millions of dollars to manage the landfill and day-to-day operations. And in the long run the groundwater will have to be cleaned up.''

DWP officials refused to comment on the case, citing pending litigation. They also could not immediately say how much waste the agency had dumped in the BKK landfill.

The DWP is among about 50 former customers of the dump, although the DTSC expects to add more to the list as investigators go through old BKK records.

The Board of Water and Power Commissioners voted last week to join a legal defense group of 25 former customers headed by attorney James Dragna, with Bingham McCutchen.

``We don't know yet how much work and how much money will be necessary to address conditions at the landfill,'' Dragna said.

BKK's hazardous waste landfill accepted petroleum waste, heavy metals, paints, pesticides and a host of chemical wastes. The DTSC has found very high levels of acetone, cyanide, mercury and cancer-causing contaminants in the liquid that is leached out of the landfill and collected.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

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BKK HAZARDOUS WASTE LANDFILL