The Navy is extending the public comment period on a proposal to spend $1.2 million to reduce potential exposure to chemicals at a Barbers Point landfill where asbestos and burned waste were dumped between 1942 and 1997.

The surface soil contains antimony, lead and hydrocarbons that exceed state Department of Health standards, the Navy said. The Navy is proposing to add cover material, put in place erosion control measures and add perimeter warning signs at the site in an old coral pit south of Runway 11 at Kalaeloa Airport.

The Barbers Point Sanitary Landfill is on Navy land at the former naval air station. An open house will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at Ewa Beach Public and School Library, the Navy said. A public meeting was held May 23, but turnout was low, so the public comment period has been extended to July 21.

The landfill is next to a 2003-04 operation to cleanse more than 44,500 cubic yards of soil contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) collected from 85 Navy sites around Oahu. A plant baked the soil at 900 degrees to remove PCBs as sludge.

A coral pit was used for the separate sanitary landfill, the Navy said, adding, “Bagged asbestos was reportedly disposed of at the site between 1976 and 1991.”

Also, burned municipal waste was dumped and covered with coralline soil from a nearby coral pit. Compacted gravel and sand were placed over the site before its closure in 1997.

The surface had vegetation until 2009, when heavy rain caused flooding and erosion, the Navy said. The $1.2 million mitigation plan is the Navy’s “preferred” alternative. Removal of soil and debris down to 10 feet would cost $42 million.

For questions or comments, contact Denise Emsley at 471-7300 or denise.emsley@navy.mil.