Under Cover

摘要

Twelve miles (19.3 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, a 190 acre (77 ha) hazardous waste site sits in the midst of the dense urban area of Monterey Park. For nearly 50 years the landfill, which is divided by the Pomona Freeway and surrounded by residences, has been a central component of the area. More than 23,000 people live within 3 mi (4.8 km) of the site, and 2,100 live within 1,000 ft (305 m) of it. It was shut down in the 1980s after being placed on California's hazardous waste priority list, and a legal settlement on remediating the site was not reached until 1996. For the engineers asked to design a major portion of the remediation―a project that would ultimately cost more than $100 million―completing the work expeditiously was high on the list of priorities. The question, though, was how to accomplish that goal given the plethora of regulations that would come into play.