Feds Remove Irvine's Proposed 'Great Park' From List Of Toxic Sites
IRVINE (AP) — Nearly 2,000 acres of land that include Orange County's proposed Great Park have been removed from the list of federal Superfund sites after a $165 million cleanup.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says this week it deleted the Irvine property from the hazardous site list.
Irvine Mayor Pro Tem Jeffrey Lalloway says it's an important step forward in building the 700-acre park. Plans also call for building 9,500 homes.
The property was formerly part of the Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, which was decommissioned in 1999. Testing two decades ago found the soil and groundwater were contaminated with PCBs and other hazardous chemicals.
About 600 acres of land are still on the list and it's expected to take another $50 million to clean it up.
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