The Department of Toxic Substances Control is collecting public comments from residents until May 28 for a proposed project to remove contaminated soil from a construction site at Jordan High School.

Since 2012, ongoing renovations at the North Long Beach high school have required crews to excavate soil that the Long Beach Unified School District determined had “chemicals of concern.” In the summer of 2013, the district removed approximately 549 tons of soil containing chlordane, a chemical pesticide that was used for termite treatment until it was banned in 1988 after it was determined it was a potential carcinogen.

In 2018, LBUSD identified roughly 130 cubic yards of additional soil mixed with the banned pesticide near Buildings 200 and 250, a classroom building and the cafeteria. A review from geological consultant firm Leighton Consulting, Inc. suggested that the soil should be removed.

A notice of exemption document from the Department of Toxic Substances Control detailed what the removal plan would entail. The soil removal is anticipated to take place in June and will take approximately 20 days to complete. The objective of the soil removal is to mitigate potential risk to human health and the environment.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control concluded that the removal of the soil would not have a significant impact on human health and the environment, according to a public notice posted on the state department’s website, but the soil removal plan was still opened to public comment.

The notice stated it was originally collecting comments from the public for this project from March 18 to April 17, however, some of the comments collected asked for an extension period.

“Unfortunately, not everyone within the community received notice before the comment period opened on March 18 and ended April 17,” Gamaliel Ortiz, a department spokesman, wrote in an email. “Because DTSC is committed to ensuring communities have an opportunity to provide input into cleanup activities, we extended the deadline.”

Activists with East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice have criticized the department stating that they “failed to properly and meaningfully inform and engage youth, parents, school teams and community residents.”

With the public comment extension now in place, the group is hosting a community Zoom meeting at 5 p.m. May 26 with residents and members of the Department of Toxic and Substances Control to go over people’s questions and concerns with the project. To join, click here.

To leave a comment with the Department of Toxic and Substances Control, click here.