Long Beach : Explosives Removed From Storage Lot and Detonated

Highly explosive chemicals have been removed from a Long Beach self-storage lot but the business remains closed while Environmental Protection Agency experts continue to clean up other hazardous chemicals still at the site, city officials said.

Sections of the nearby 710 and 405 freeways were closed last weekend while eight jars of “acutely explosive” chemicals were removed from Store For Less on Carson Street and detonated at a vacant lot in Carson. The explosives, abandoned at the storage facility two years ago, were left there while Long Beach health officials tried to compel the owners of the business to pay for their disposal, a cost estimated as high as $100,000, city officials said.

EPA experts expect to spend three to four weeks identifying and disposing of the remaining hazardous chemicals, apparently the remnants of an illegal drug lab. The job is being paid for with federal cleanup funds.

Long Beach city prosecutors are investigating possible charges of illegal storage of dangerous chemicals against the owners of the lot, Spongberg, Kirkland and Associates of Lakewood, officials said.