VISTA —— The results of tests to determine if a creek near a former landfill was contaminated by burned dump waste will be released later this month, Vista officials said Wednesday.
Attorneys for the city and San Diego County said the state-ordered water testing is done and results will be released when a report has been issued to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Depending on the board's review, some cleanup measures may be needed at the site, said Assistant City Attorney Pete Grover.
"We're not surprised by the test results," Grover said, declining to disclose specifics. "I don't think it will be a major issue, but there will likely be some (remediation). It's really up to the board to determine what is needed to make this safe."
The testing, which has cost about $300,000 to date, is part of a state-ordered study done by San Diego County and the cities of Oceanside and Vista to learn whether waste burned at the long-inactive county dump on Lee Drive is leaking into nearby Loma Alta Creek.
The site is known as French Field, a 10-acre park that has been used by Vista-area youth baseball and softball teams for more than 20 years. The field was closed in January pending additional, city-initiated soil testing, and will remain closed for the rest of the Little League season.
One reason the test results have not yet been released, Grover said, is a disagreement over how much information should be contained in the report to the state board, with the three municipalities taking different positions.
"One side says the report should include more information, and another says we've all complied with the report," Grover said, declining to state Vista's position.
County attorneys said Wednesday that they considered the report complete.
"We are of the position that the report is providing exactly what the regional board requested," said Tom Deak, a senior deputy county counsel.
The two cities and county are embroiled in a three-way legal battle over which one should bear responsibility for the site and testing.
The dispute began last year when the county, which ran the dump from 1944 until its closure in 1967, filed a lawsuit seeking contributions from the two cities. Both cities then filed cross-complaints.
Testing was ordered in 2002 by the state water quality board to determine whether any waste burned at the landfill while it operated had seeped into groundwater in areas around the dump and nearby creek. The testing was required of a long list of inactive landfills throughout the state.
The city is also conducting separate soil testing on the site —— at a cost of up to $50,000 —— to determine if the field is safe for use by Little League teams.
The landfill, on Lee Avenue near Loma Alta Creek, opened in 1944 and was used as a disposal and waste-burning site for trash from much of North County. Vista was incorporated as a city in 1963, four years before the landfill closed.
After the dump was shut down, the cities of Oceanside and Vista became part-owners of the land. Vista later sold its stake to Oceanside, which now owns the property and leases it to Vista for use as a ballpark.
Right now, funding for the testing and legal fees incurred is coming from two sources: Chubb and Traveler's Insurance companies, which represented the three municipalities at the time the landfill was operated.
Contact staff writer Anne Riley-Katz at ariley-katz@nctimes.com.
