Stanislaus County to clear Indalex site

Public embarrassment over Inda-lex could ease in the next day or so as contractors armed with a court order begin clearing what's left of a former aluminum plant picked apart by scavengers.

Stanislaus County Superior Court Judge William Mayhew on Friday signed an abatement warrant giving county officials cover to hire cleanup crews despite not having permission from the property owner, because there is none.

"We're going to go clean it up," said Kirk Ford, the county's planning director and chief building official.

Court documents supporting the order, obtained Monday, reveal another nasty secret: a cancer-causing toxin was detected in groundwater under the plant north of Modesto shortly before it closed in July 2008.

A bankruptcy trustee said nothing about the contamination and a bankruptcy judge in Delaware last year declared the site abandoned without setting aside money to clean up trichloroethylene, also known as TCE, a county official said in a declaration.

Friday's order enables the county to move ahead with cleanup at an estimated price of $150,000 to $200,000, although there isn't anyone to pay it.

County officials were negotiating with a contractor Monday as well as looking for another one specializing in unidentified hazardous material removal, Ford said. Officials previously said 45,000 gallons of hazardous waste remain.

TCE is a solvent that was commonly used in dry cleaning and metal degreasing and can damage the liver, kidneys and nervous system. Indalex was notified that the toxin was detected in its groundwater by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in June 2008, one month before the plant closed, the county maintains in its filing with the court.

Hazardous waste spill

The document also shed light on the August 2010 hazardous waste spill of about 1,900 gallons in a "northern parking lot area" when a storage tank's pump leaked. Several state and federal agencies were involved and no owner could be found, the document says, before crews spent about $500,000 cleaning up that mess.

Chances that agencies would be repaid for that effort or for this week's cleanup seem remote unless liens are satisfied should anyone eventually buy the nine-acre parcel. It's also saddled with $250,000 in back property taxes.

Indalex used to be a profitable business, employing 154 unionized workers creating doors, windows, electrical appliances and other aluminum products before the building industry collapsed.

Ford's declaration supporting Friday's abatement warrant says "scavenging activities increased so dramatically" after The Bee reported on Indalex in the fall, noting that Sheriff Adam Christianson would not arrest trespassers and thieves because there was no owner, so no victim.

County attorneys determined that five of eight parties with possible interest in Indalex are bankrupt and the others "disclaimed any ownership," deputy county counsel Thomas Boze wrote in a court briefing.

"None of the potentially interested parties appears to have any apparent legal duty" to acknowledge responsibility for the property, Boze wrote.

Mayhew's order gives the county until Dec. 23 to remove rubbish, demolish what's left of buildings and take care of hazardous waste. The county would ask for more time if necessary, Ford said in his declaration.

Bee staff writer Garth Stapley can be reached at gstapley@modbee.com or (209) 578-2390.

This story was originally published December 12, 2011 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Stanislaus County to clear Indalex site."