GrokSurf's San Diego

Del Cerro/San Carlos

The long holding pattern on cleanup of underground contamination discovered below leaky gasoline tanks removed after closing the Union 76 gas station at the corner of Navajo Road and Park Ridge Blvd. in 2002 is showing signs of change. At the time of discovery, soil samples taken from the pit where the storage tanks had been buried for 15 years revealed contamination levels 17 times higher than safety standards allow, according to this March 2009 San Diego Union-Tribune report.

The wells that were drilled into the street to vent and treat extracted fumes and liquid at the small decontamination unit on the station site are still being worked, and part of the athletic field at Patrick Henry High School remains closed, but it now appears progress is being made toward a final solution.

Bernie Rhinerson, Chief District Relations Officer for the San Diego Unified School District, says that the district is getting close to a final legal settlement with Conoco Phillips to pay for the construction cost of the appropriate underground drainage/mitigation system for the field. The current schedule is for the construction contract to be awarded in January 2011 and construction would take 4-6 months. After that there would have to be an establishment period for new turf and the estimate is that the field might be ready for use after September 2011 at the earliest.

Corner station	Wells in roadway
Decontamination equipment on station lot	Looking towards closed area at Patrick Henry High School
Corner of field below gas station	Warning sign