San Diego Fire Rescue were called in to detonate abandoned hazardous materials on Saturday at a facility in Sorrento Valley, City Beat reported.
The local alternative weekly also reported that the chemicals were abandoned by the Aries Associates company, a local weapons defense subcontractor, in April, after it filed for bankruptcy. Aries filed for bankruptcy in the wake of a an intellectual-property rights lawsuit between Aries and L-3 Communications, which leased space from Aries.
The chemicals could have been dangerous to people in the area, but that risk has now been minimized, according to crews cleaning up the site.
"Right now, there is minimal risk," said Robert Wise, who is the federal on-scene coordinator for the Environmental Protection Association. "If the facility was to sit there abandoned, there could be a risk of fire or other type of spill, if someone was to get in there who didn't know what they were doing."
Prior to being abandoned, the facility was used to develop methods to decontaminate areas damaged by a biological-weapons attack.
Crews expect the clean-up, which Wise told City Beat could cost more than $150,000, to be completed by Friday.
