Treatment System Installed Behind Swarthmore Ave. Businesses

The soil vapor extraction system recommended to mitigate environmental issues behind several Pacific Palisades businesses on Swarthmore Avenue was installed July 1, and interest between a local trust to sell the properties to a prominent developer remains in place.

Pacific Palisades village tenants on the north and south sides of Swarthmore Avenue received notices in April of contaminants found in the soil behind the old Emerson LaMay Cleaners at 1045 Swarthmore Ave. 

Developer Rick Caruso, owner of the upscale Grove shopping center in L.A., expressed interest in purchasing the 10 parcels from the Pacific Palisades Ownership Group located east of Swarthmore Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in late 2012. Since the discovery of a solvent called perchloroethylene, or PCE, from soil samples, environmental experts came to the Palisades to address the situation.

Mary McDaniel, spokeswoman for the Pacific Palisades Village Ownership Group, which is funding the remediation, told Patch Thursday that a notice was distributed to 39 businesses and tenants on June 11 to outline the details of the soil vapor extraction system's installment and the testing involved.

"There's eight extraction wells and five monitoring wells," McDaniel said. "They are located in the parking lot behind the stores."

McDaniel described the well as a system of "giant straws" that act as a vacuum to pull up the PCE vapors into the unit, where they are treated.

An informational sheet on soil vapor extraction systems is attached to this post.

"It went very smoothly and tenants were very cooperative," McDaniel added. "We got the system in as planned and it's working well."

She noted this is not the last solution, as the group works with Cal-EPA toward the final remediation to make the properties marketable for the Caruso deal. McDaniel said it will take a few months to look at the data before deciding on the final remediation plan.

Representatives contacted by Patch to provide an update on the business deal Thursday declined to comment.

Charles Sipkins, spokesman for Caruso Affiliated, released this statement to the media in April:

"Pacific Palisades is a wonderful community and the Palisades Village has significant potential. We are under contract to acquire the property from its owner and we are in the process of conducting our due diligence."