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“Outstanding service. They were extremely careful delivering the extra large container into our driveway.” -- A. L. GARNER
Plating Inc. plant at 888 N. Prior Ave., just south of Pierce Butler Route. The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had to step in, which what it calls a “time critical” removal and cleanup plan. The EPA has indicated that the work could take up to 65 days.More than 80 open vats and 76 sealed barrels must be removed from the building. The metal plating process involves several hazardous chemicals. The chemicals were left behind when the plant closed. The open vats contained caustics, chromium, and cyanide. It’s also believed the walls of the 21,00-square foot building contain asbestosA community meeting was held in August, and federal, state and local officials continue to monitor the situation. The old cinderblock building has housed a plating shop since about 1938. It most recently handled zinc and chromate plating of aluminum products. The business closed and was abandoned in the spring of 2016. The business owner told EPA officials he had no money to clean up the hazardous materials left behind.What sent up red flags for neighbors and elected officials is that the building has been the subject of break-ins, with thieves in search of copper pipes to resell. The EPA has hired a security firm to guard the building.EPA officials have also gone door-to-door in the residential... (Monitorsaintpaul)
As the white city-issued van waited to turn from Brundage Lane onto Chester Avenue, Cathy Butler looked over at the colorful annuals on the corner."It looks so pretty with the flowers there," Butler said, "and someone had to leave a soda cup there."A while after passing that corner, the Downtown Business Association president commented how litter around the railroad tracks along Chester was significantly better."It's not bad by the tracks," she said, "we had even noted it (the trash) last year."Butler, joined in the van by other Keep Bakersfield Beautiful board members and Bakersfield Mayor Karen Goh, was participating in the annual Mayor's Community Appearance Survey.The survey, formerly called the "Litter Index," is a look at litter in nine different areas of the city. They began at City Hall and travelled along many of the main roads in Bakersfield, including Chester Avenue, Wible Road, White Lane, Ashe Road, Westside Parkway, Calloway Drive, Panorama Drive and Beale Avenue. Keep America Beautiful, which Keep Bakersfield Beautiful is affiliated with, requires these surve... (The Bakersfield Californian)