Carson homeowners continue to fight Shell Oil Company on soil contamination

CARSON, Calif. (KABC) -- Carson resident Jose Lopez has lived in the Carousel housing tract for 30 years and he is worried about what is underneath his home.

Just a few feet below the surface sits oil contamination from old oil storage tanks that were owned by Shell Oil Company.

"It's very frustrating, you know, everybody has cancer and stuff and they don't care about the people," Lopez said.

Shell kept three storage tanks in the 50-acre area from the 1920s until the 1960s. After the tanks were shut down in the late 1960s, the 258-home Carousel tract was built.

Since 2008, oil has seeped through the soil and concrete surrounding the homes. The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board found high levels of benzene and methane in the area and residents have been asked to minimize any contact with soil in their backyards.

In 2010, the City of Carson filed a lawsuit against Shell, and the water control board ordered the company to clean up the mess.

Recently, Carson city officials rejected Shell's latest cleanup offer and are asking the water board to reject it as well.

Attorneys representing the city and neighborhood residents said dangerous contaminants continue to seep through.

"Some of the tests of benzene are 100,000 times those permitted by the law," said Tom Girardi, attorney for the Carousel homeowners. "You would imagine that if you're really a good company your PR would be, 'hey there was a problem there [and] we did the right thing for those people.'"

Mayor Jim Dean said the oil company's offer means clean up would be minimal.

"They only want to do the minimum. They only want to remediate the soil that's currently open grass area. They don't want to remediate underneath any concrete or asphalt," he said.

In a statement, Shell representatives said the Carousel developer is responsible for not properly cleaning up the site before building the homes.

"The developer assumed the responsibility to dismantle the reservoirs and properly handle residual wastes to ensure that the site was safe for residential housing. However, the developers buried the concrete reservoir floors and side walls and developed the neighborhood," the statement said.

Lopez believes Shell will continue to offer minimal cleanup plans until residents decide to leave the neighborhood.

"I think that's probably what they're planning, [for] everybody to get tired and leave and don't worry about paying them anything," he said. "We can't [move out], who am I going to sell [the house] to?"

The attorneys involved in the case do not believe the issue will be resolved anytime soon and they expect it to drag into next year.