Downey man concerned about potential problems from asphalt pile

A Downey man is worried that there could be harmful chemicals affecting his home and his water supply. The homeowner, Thomas Dorsey, is concerned that a pile of asphalt from Interstate 15 that has been dumped near his home, could potentially have some health risks.

“I’m concerned with the possible toxins that are being dumped near my home which is probably within 500-600 feet of my home,” Dorsey said. “Obviously, we’ve looked this up online and there are toxins that leach from stockpiles like this. It’s because it has toxins in it from the fuel – from cars passing over it from years and years. There’s toxins from the rubber and obviously toxins from the material itself because everything is petroleum based.”

Dorsey said from his research, he found that there are three chemical compounds that could be present in the asphalt. They are napthalene, butylated hydroxytoluene and dibutyl phthalate. Dorsey worries that long-term, those could soak into the topsoil and work into the ground water and his private well.

The Department of Environmental Quality was on site of the asphalt pile Wednesday afternoon doing some preliminary scouting and looking at the pile and its location.

The DEQ did confirm that those three chemicals can be found in fuel, but said that did not necessarily mean it was in the asphalt, or that there were high levels of it. The DEQ said it can’t say whether or not the asphalt pile is a potential health concern or not – it’s too early. They did the preliminary work to go back and evaluate if, and what kind of, testing could be done on the asphalt to see if there’s a risk. The DEQ said while it can’t say if it’s a concern or not, they are looking into it.

The asphalt pile is placed on private land. KIFI/KIDK spoke to the owner of the property. He said he’s simply storing it there until it can be recycled and reused on another road. He said road crews need a place to be able to put the asphalt while they’re busy with the job – especially this year with all the work being done on I-15. The owner said asphalt piles like that are very common and are found all over the state. The construction company who had been using the site to put asphalt said the same. Dorsey said he’s just concerned because it’s so close to his home.

The owner of the gravel pit where the asphalt is said it not harmful to his knowledge and he doesn’t want it to be an issue. He said if the DEQ does testing and anything is found to be damaging, the asphalt will be removed.

The next phase is to wait and see what DEQ’s assessment shows. KIFI/KIDK will update this story once those results are available.