Long Beach Unified School District v. Santa Catalina Island Company et al

Case Background The Contamination Cleanup lawsuit was filed on February 14, 2019 by Plaintiff Long Beach Unified School District in the California Central District Court, Los Angeles division. (Case number: 2:19-cv-01139) and was presided over by the Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong

Cause

Long Beach Unified School District filed a lawsuit against Santa Catalina Island Company (SCICo) and the City of Avalon regarding extensive environmental contamination at the Avalon School Campus on Catalina Island. SCICo owned and operated the entire site from the late 1800s to the 1920s, when it began selling parcels. The City purchased land west of the school campus in 1920. A manufactured gas plant (MGP) operated on the site from 1920 to 1931, initially by the City and later by SCICo. The MGP included large gas storage tanks and carbon furnaces, generating waste containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other contaminants. An electric generating plant with diesel-powered generators also operated on the site from 1920 to 1947, likely contributing hydrocarbon contamination. SCICo graded the main campus area with fill material containing burn dump waste before constructing the high school building in 1924. The school district later built additional structures on this contaminated fill. SCICo also operated a golf course on part of the property, allegedly using arsenic-containing rodenticides. The school district discovered the contamination in 2001 during a modernization project involving trenching. Soil testing revealed elevated levels of dioxins, lead, arsenic, and PAHs. The district began investigating and conducting removal actions to pro