People often live near industry. In fact, many cities throughout the United States were designed so that workers lived in communities that surrounded the factories in which they were employed. This is a common "inner city" model.

It is not just city folks who have this arrangement. In the 1980s many industries moved from the cities to the undeveloped suburbs. Eager to live near work, communities once again have arisen near these workplaces.

Most of the time, the arrangement works out well. American businesses most often wish to be law compliant and good neighbors. They are generally quick to buy tickets to the police banquet and support local little league teams.

But, there are of course exceptions. Some companies are lousy neighbors, and do not care that they are lousy. Intentional polluters make up one group of these really bad neighbors. You can count paper giant Louisiana Pacific in this category. This past July, the $2.5 billion international corporation admitted to lying about the amount of toxic pollutants coming from its Colorado facility and agreed to pay a $37 million fine. This was the largest such fine in U.S. history.

What happens when a company pollutes in such a sizable manner? In the case of Louisiana Pacific, at least four families moved because they could not tolerate the pollution. That effect was felt now. But how about all of the pollution that every neighbor of the plant was forced to inhale? Will these people become ill with some respiratory disease 15 years from now? If they do, do think Louisiana Pacific will pay their bills and take care of them? Or, so you think they will have to retain a lawyer to fight for every penny that is due them? No one knows, but we can guess.

Each year, neighbors affected by industrial pollution are forced to fight for their lives. And when people become debilitated by illness, they are least financially and emotionally capable of fighting for their lives.

In some cases, the degree of harm is felt all at once, by an entire community. The first such episode took place in a New York State housing development called "Love Canal." There, an entire community was displaced because serous pollution represented serious an immediate health threat. The Love Canal story is still a low-light in contemporary environmental news.

And Love Canal is occurring all over again, this time on the other side of the county in Avila Beach California. Avila Beach seemed like a great place to visit. Advertisements billed it as a "destination community," and one of a few "California beach towns remaining." There are motels, golf courses, restaurants and even a yacht club.

But now, a $200 million fuel cleanup will begin shortly in the heart of this quaint coastal community. By the year 2000, Unocal Corporation, the oil giant reporting over six billion dollars in revenue last year that has agreed to fund the cleanup, expects to have it completed. The ambitious cleanup plan calls for literally tearing up the town's tiny downtown area. When the project is over, at least 20 buildings will have been removed, and many of the 400 locals will have been relocated. Alvila Beach, California, will never be the same again.

Unocal owned petroleum storage tanks farm just outside of the "funky" resort town. Fuel off loaded at a pier was stored in the tanks until it could be transported for sale. Pipes ran underneath the beach community that conveyed the fuel from the pier to the tank farm.

Since underground pipes are located underground, undetected leaks can go on for years without notice. Apparently, that is what happened in this case. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel soaked the sand and the soils. The contamination was discovered in 1988.

In May 1997, County officials released a report containing various proposals for addressing the contamination. The most expensive proposal was the one that will now be undertaken. It calls for removing all of the contaminated soil. uency today, the dirty soil is treated in-place by encouraging existing bacteria to consume the petroleum. Soil removal proponents argued that this would be the quickest approach and the most effective method for removing most of the contaminated soil.

Unocal recently agreed to the soil removal remedy. The cleanup will be conducted in three separate phases to minimize the disruption. While Unocal has proposed to complete the project in 1 ? years, experience suggests that it will take much longer. It almost always does.

Indeed, delays are already emerging. A September 17, 1998 Unocal press release announced that the project has been stalled due to a government agency's failure to issue three permits. Eight other permits will be required as the cleanup progresses. We can expect that they too will not be promptly issued, and this will yield additional press releases blaming the government and warning of still further delays. There will be no shortage of delay excuses in a project of this magnitude.

Now the cost. In dollars and cents it is simple to calculate that the cleanup alone will cost an estimated $200 million. This does not include the cost of settling all of the lawsuits brought by everyone whose life will be affected. To date one settlement was announced worth $18 million. In 1996, a jury awarded another property owner one million dollars.

In truth, Unocal can well afford the cost of the cleanup. Look at its 1997 revenue. But how about the residents, some of whom will never be able to come home again. Once this resort is cleaned, banks will lend money for large redevlopment projects. Smaller affordable housing will likely give way to the kind of upscale development that has a big return. These people will simply be forgotten victims.

For those who try to remain, life does not sound easy. Restaurants, beach stores, bars, and other businesses will all be closed. At least 20 buildings are currently scheduled to come down. But with the anticipated noise, traffic, dust and a rotten egg smell which will be caused by the unearthing, many others will probably leave.

Who is to blame for this large scale up-rooting? You should not be tempted to blame Unocal. That facility was in place for years and no one in America though much about the environment when the pipes probably leaked. Also, Unocal appears to be paying a lot of money to settle claims to behave fairly.

Probably, there is no one to blame. Rather, Avila Beach and Love Canal are a reflection of what happens when American businesses commit to cleaning up centuries of pollution releases. Hopefully, no one living near Unocal became permanently ill as a result of all of that oil. And hopefully, those who are forced to leave will find happiness and peace in their new surroundings. And hopefully, we have all learned what happens when companies that handle potentially harmful substance do not take necessary measures to safeguard their innocent neighbors.