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Fun With Brownfields

It’s amazing what they’ll build a mall on these days. Toxins be damned! We want our very own Gap/Banana Republic/Crate&Barrel/Borders/J Crew, says the Carson Planning Commission. According to Daily Breeze, the largest shopping center site in Los Angeles County “breezed” through approval. Never mind that tiny little wrinkle in the plan: it’s a former toxic dump site. All that the developer needs to do is make a few nips and tucks.

Before anything would be built above ground, the developers would have to install a network of suction pipes underground to vent methane produced by the decomposing waste. An impermeable elastic tarp will be spread over the area to prevent water from seeping into the landfill. And another tarp will be placed at the south end of the site to stop contamination of the groundwater. Under the parking lots, the dirt will be compacted as much as 5 feet by a crane dropping a 20-ton weight several times in one place to control settlement. And the structures will be built on concrete piles that reach 90 feet into the native soil. The retail component will be constructed over the most contaminated areas and the residential over the least.

With the residential development, too, you can live and shop amidst the new high tech tarps. Yay!
· Carson Planners Approve Mall Idea for Toxic Dump [Daily Breeze]