How did DDTs and PCBs get into the Los Angeles and Orange Counties Coastal environment?
Montrose Chemical Corporation manufactured the pesticide DDT at its former chemical plant near Torrance, California from the 1940s until the 1980s. Industrial wastewater containing DDT was released into the sewer system up until the early 1970’s. Other industries released polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. The DDT and PCBs got into the sewer system and ultimately flowed out of the outfall pipes located off White Point on the Palos Verdes Shelf.
