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6-eliole iiih ASBESTOS: French Camp owner refuses cleanup order, official says ,,ONTINUED from B-1 State health officials posted warning signs around the property Wednesday. "We're going to the attorney general's office so we can force the property owner to reimburse us for whatever expenses we might incur in cleaning up the site," said Val Siebal, chief of the state Depart- ment of Health Services enforcement branch. ,Equinoa apparently violated state Health and Safety codes by failing to comply with clean-up orders, he added. Equinoa, a teacher at Franklin High Sthool in Stockton, responded by saying the state is going after the wrong party. "They should be going after Johns-- Manville Corp. It's their asbestos," he said. He said his father-in-law, from whom he inherited the property, allowed the company to dump asbestos pipes and waste at the site about 15 years ago. The Denver-based company, once the nation's biggest asbestos producer, filed for bankruptcy in 1982 in the wake of health-related lawsuits. Inhalation of asbestos fibers has been found to cause serious respiratory prob- lems. Equinoa said he has not had the money to comply with the state's clean-up or- ders. "I just spent a bundle removing 4,000 tires that were illegally dumped on my property," he said. The state has asked Equinoa to either remove the asbestos-laden soil and ship it to a hazardous waste dump or cover it with a new layer of soil. With the last option, the land would be virtually worthless because it could never be used for development or farming. The health district learned of the as- bestos contamination in April 1985 from Pacific Bell Co. The utility had ordered soil samples because they were considering leasing a section of Equinoa's property to install a mobile access antenna. Laboratory tests revealed a layer of powdery substance on the surface of the soil at the six-acre site was actually as- bestos fibers. The asbestos gradually became ex- posed as wind, rain and rodents removed the topsoil that once covered it, Valinoti said. People living in a house and trailer next to the site have been warned of the possible health risks, he added. "We do not believe they are in any imminent danger at this point in time," But during the summer months, when winds stir up the dry topsoil, asbestos fibers could become airborne and pose a health risk, he said. •