Wake Up Call !
Campus Bay Richmond, CA

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Sherry Padgett Campus Bay Richmond Campus Bay Richmond LaDonna Williams, Campus Bay Richmond
Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin, Campus Bay Richmond Campus Bay Richmond Contra Costa, Public Health, Dr. Wendel Brunner, Campus Bay Richmond


Wake Up Call ! Campus Bay Richmond, CA

Richmond, CA -- At 7 a.m. on Friday, April 29, 2005 East Bay residents, workers and business owners held a protest at the Zeneca/Cherokee-Simeon Campus Bay and the University of California Field Station sites on the south Richmond shoreline of the San Francisco Bay. Speakers included Sherry Padgett, Spokesperson Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development, Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin, Contra Costa Public Health Director, Dr. Wendel Brunner and LaDonna Williams with People For Children’s Health and Environmental Justice.

Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development spokesperson, Sherry Padgett, said "we've waited for too many years and seen too many people seriously ill to be told once again to be patient." BARRD is a coalition formed in response to earlier activities on the site. Within the fenced property along the heavily traveled Bay Trail, hikers see signs declaring “marsh restoration”, but that is the only notification that hazardous substances may be present. There are no signs warning of hazardous substances, where or what they are, or their toxicity. Nor are there signs indicating that these sites are undergoing “cleanup” in order to facilitate massive new development.

Produced by Berkeley Citizen
Copyright 2005
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\\Richmond Progressive Alliance
West County Toxics Coalition
Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development

Richmond Residents Demand Action by Cal EPA....... Press Release
Richmond, CA -- At 7 a.m. on Friday, April 29, 2005 East Bay residents, workers and business owners held a protest at the Zeneca/Cherokee-Simeon Campus Bay and the University of California Field Station sites on the south Richmond shoreline of the San Francisco Bay.


\The rally is expected to last one hour, coinciding with the arrival of workers. Speakers at the event will include recently elected Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin and Richmond cardiologist Dr. Jeff Ritterman. Cosponsoring groups include the Richmond Progressive Alliance, West County Toxics Coalition, Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development (BARRD), the Sierra Club, Mothers Against Threatening Toxic Emissions in Richmond (MATTER) and the West Contra Costa Alameda Chapter of the National Autism Association and other individuals and organizations working to protect and clean up the East Bay shoreline.

On March 1, 2005 the Richmond City Council passed a unanimous resolution requesting Cal EPA to assign oversight to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) for the ongoing hazardous substance cleanup on both the UC property and the Zeneca/Cherokee-Simeon sites in order to achieve “maximum protection of human health and the environment.”

Richmond City Councilmember Gayle McLaughlin’s resolution was supported by Contra Costa Public Health Director, Dr. Wendel Brunner, in a written endorsement stating, “the Regional Water Quality Control Board has neither the expertise or experience to handle a site this complex.”

Cal EPA has, so far, been unresponsive to community requests to change agency responsibility for overseeing cleanup of these two sites, which are among the Bay Area’s most polluted properties. At present, two different agencies within Cal EPA share oversight: the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The water board is charged with preserving and restoring the quality of water resources, while DTSC is responsible for regulating hazardous waste and cleaning up existing contamination while ensuring public health.

After Cal EPA failed to act by the promised April 15, 2005 deadline, Councilmember McLaughlin stated, “Cal/EPA has often said in the past that they want to work with local government. When our City Council unanimously and urgently asks for their help, we'd like to think that they could move more quickly. In addition, we are very disturbed by what appears to be the Water Board’s attempt to maintain turf at the expense of public safety.”

A history fact sheet is available. Phone and studio interviews can be arranged.
Directions: UC Berkeley Field Station and Zeneca/Cherokee-Simeon site are located at Meade & South 47th Street in Richmond. From I-80, take I-580 West toward Pt. Richmond and the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge. Take the exit toward Regatta Blvd. Turn right on Erlandson Street. Turn Left onto Meade St.

HISTORY

Desire for stricter controls and more effective governmental oversight of the ongoing toxic site clean-up has been the center of strong citizen action for more than a year in the community surrounding the 152 acre UC Berkeley Richmond Field Station and the 85 acre Zeneca/Stauffer Chemical Plant and Western Research Facility (now owned by Cherokee Investments and Simeon Properties).

On November 6, 2004, local California Assemblymember, Loni Hancock, held a public hearing and requested Cal EPA to change agency jurisdiction immediately. Cal EPA made a partial change, splitting oversight between the water board and DTSC. This change yielded some improvements but also, a lot of public confusion, communication gaps and safety risks. Hancock has now introduced California Assembly Bill 1360 to correct the regulatory loophole that allowed the properties to sidestep DTSC jurisdiction when cleanup processes began nearly seven years ago.

Cal EPA is using a newly developed internal method spelled out in a Memorandum of Agreement between the water board and DTSC to dictate the process by which the agencies agree on a jurisdictional change. The MOA was finalized February 2005 and calls for each of two executive levels of the agencies to work out their differences before elevating the mediation to the Secretary of Cal EPA for settlement. After six weeks, only one executive-level meeting regarding the controversial Richmond site has been completed even though the MOA process is intentionally limited to 30 days. To date, executives within the water board and DTSC have not found a way to transfer oversight.

Frustrated citizens of Richmond and surrounding communities want to move forward with site clean-up, but only if the entire site is under the oversight and protection of DTSC, with the water board providing the expertise on water quality restoration. Aside from the water board’s demonstrated lack of competence in protecting the community, the DTSC process permits some public input to the cleanup process – a vitally needed change in order to keep the developers responsive to community concerns.

Bay Area Residents for Responsible Development spokesperson, Sherry Padgett, said "we've waited for too many years and seen too many people seriously ill to be told once again to be patient." BARRD is a coalition formed in response to earlier activities on the site. Within the fenced property along the heavily traveled Bay Trail, hikers see signs declaring “marsh restoration”, but that is the only notification that hazardous substances may be present. There are no signs warning of hazardous substances, where or what they are, or their toxicity. Nor are there signs indicating that these sites are undergoing “cleanup” in order to facilitate massive new development.

Despite the high levels of toxic chemicals on these sites, children attend after-school activities at the Cherokee-Simeon site, and there are periodic “field trips” at the UC site, without proper notification to the teachers and parents of their children’s possible exposure to highly toxic materials.

Known PCB, DDT and BHC hazardous waste hotspots on the UC Field Station property are within 250 feet of the densely populated Richmond Redevelopment residential housing jewel, Marina Bay. The backyards of homes and apartments face the area scheduled for further cleanup.

Water board regulations do not require public notification of nearby residents or business owners of the risks associated with ongoing hazardous substance remediation. Furthermore, DTSC has stricter standards for thresholds of toxins carried in airborne dust. It also has the authority to create and enforce long-term deed restrictions, which may be necessary for safe property use.

The recent round of toxic cleanup in the Zeneca/Cherokee-Simeon portion of East Stege Marsh stopped on March 31, 2005, after a one month extension into the endangered Clapper Rail mating season. More marsh clean-up on both properties is scheduled to begin September 1, 2005, when the Clapper Rail mating season ends. Upland areas away from the marsh were cleaned up several years ago. Hot spots are reemerging and may be scheduled for cleanup sooner than September 1, 2005.

The protesting groups are also opposed to irresponsible plans by Zeneca/ Cherokee and UC Berkeley for future development that would expose thousands area residents to life threatening toxic substances for years to come. At issue are the two properties that are contaminated as a result of decades of manufacturing related primarily to defense and agricultural chemical production.

According to the water board and DTSC, these properties are loaded with extremely toxic substances, including heavy metals (arsenic, lead, mercury and more), pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, PCBs and volatile and semi-volatile organic chemicals.

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