SMELL OF EXCESS CREWS TACKLE LONGTIME DUMPSITE.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer LAKE LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. - Bulldozers are scooping up 75 tons of junk car parts, construction debris, old tires, broken bottles and other trash that has accumulated over at least 30 years beside Big Rock Wash. Scattered over three or four acres south of Avenue K near 140th Street East, the trash is being cleaned up by the Los Angeles County health department with help from state government. ``The bulk of it has been here decades,'' said Los Angeles County environmental health official Chris Mastro. The work, expected to be finished this week, is being done by Waste Management of Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley , using heavy equipment. Inmate camp crews provided by the Los Angeles County Fire Department Not to be confused with Los Angeles Fire Department. The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD), serves unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County, as well as 58 cities and towns that choose to have the county provide fire and EMS services, including the City of La are doing hand work. The trash accumulation may have started years ago when it was considered acceptable by Antelope Valley residents to simply dump trash in the desert. Most appears to be household trash, Mastro said. ``It was a community dumpsite, most likely,'' Mastro said. Vehicles, old carpeting, kitchen appliances, furniture and more than 300 tires were among the trash. The California Integrated Waste Management Board is funding $10,000 of the $14,000 cleanup cost. This is the eleventh Antelope Valley site to be cleaned by the county health department using almost $500,000 provided under state legislation for cleaning up illegal dumps. The desert trash is a grating irritation for valley residents who don't like to see Joshua trees surrounded by junk. The last cleanup was a $180,000 effort done in 2002 in a former quartz quarry a quarter-mile south of the Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. border. The quarry pit had filled with trash including tires, old shingles shingles: see herpes zoster. shingles or herpes zoster Acute viral skin and nerve infection. Groups of small blisters appear along certain nerve segments, most often on the back, sometimes after a dull ache at the site; pain becomes and floor coverings containing asbestos. Fires over the decades created ash contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with lead and other heavy metals heavy metals, n.pl metallic compounds, such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, and nickel. Exposure to these metals has been linked to immune, kidney, and neurotic disorders. , fitting federal standards as hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. . This week's cleanup does not involve hazardous materials, Mastro said. ``It seems to be pretty straightforward - just trash, household trash,'' Mastro said. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) Heavy equipment plows through years of accumulated garbage and junk beside Big Rock Wash near Lake Los Angeles. (2 -- color) Waste Management of Antelope Valley and inmate crews from the Los Angeles County Fire Department provided the labor for the cleanup. (3) A pile of old tires waits to be trucked out Tuesday from the dumpsite at Avenue K. Jeff Goldwater/Staff Photographer |
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