Old Dump Impacting Current Property Values for Dozens of Home Owners in Escondido, CA

October 1, 2007 - Three dozen frustrated homeowners near the Escondido Country Club spent two hours Monday night wrangling with county and state officials over the cheapest and most efficient way to clean up the remnants of a defunct trash dump that lies within their middle-class subdivision.

State officials offered Monday night to cover the costs of devising a "cap" that would safely seal lead and some other toxins in the 2-acre dump site, but the homeowners said they must thoroughly consider that proposal before committing to anything.

The homeowners, who live in the 39-home Country Club Woods subdivision, said they are worried that the state plan would cost more than they can afford. They also said that before paying for any cleanup, they would like to consider suing the county or city, two agencies that used the dump when it operated between 1949 and 1953.

Since they were notified about three years ago that there was a former dump in their neighborhood, the residents have balked at a 1989 state law requiring current owners of contaminated properties to clean up such sites, even if they had nothing to do with the contamination.

The homeowners, who packed into a small and stuffy meeting room Monday night at the country club, said they knew nothing about the dump when they moved into the subdivision, which was built more than two decades ago. They also said that the contamination problems have made it virtually impossible to sell their homes.

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