"LOS ANGELES -- Clean sand and silt will be used to cover a vast deposit of the pesticide DDT and toxic compound PCB on the ocean floor off Southern California, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday.

The $50 million plan will target a Superfund site lurking in the waters off the scenic Palos Verdes Peninsula in order to reduce concentrations of the chemicals in fish in that area.

About 110 tons of DDT from a manufacturer and 10 tons of PCBs from industrial operations flowed for years through the Los Angeles County sewer system into the ocean and accumulated in a nine-mile-long swath. Now, an existing thin layer of silt over the contaminants is showing signs of erosion."

John Antczak reports for the Associated Press October 6, 2009. [2]