Hat tip to Kwaping for sending this along, from the U-T:

OCEANSIDE — Crews are working to clean up a huge cache of hazardous waste discovered Thursday stored behind a home near Camp Pendleton.

Firefighters found four storage buildings, numerous containers and an underground storage area that all contained various solid and liquid hazardous materials and chemicals after being called to the home on San Simeon Street near the front gate of the base, said Oceanside Battalion Chief Pete Lawrence.

A bank had foreclosed on the home and the woman who lived there told officials that her late husband had owned a company that made gopher eradication devices that included toxic smoke producing powder and bombs that detonated inside gopher burrows, Lawrence said.

Some 2,000 pounds of aluminum powder were removed from the home Thursday as technicians worked to identify and segregate the rest of the substances, many of which were in unmarked bottles, drums, bag or boxes, Lawrence said.

Crews will return to the house today to continue the clean up.