City halts building on toxic site
Neighbors worry about possible health threat
Will Harper, Berkeley Voice, April 27, 1995
A toxic-cleanup system at the site of a former gas station in west Berkeley was removed more than two months ago in violation of a previous city-approved agreement, the Voice has learned.
The city briefly halted construction this week on the Gateway project on the northeast corner of University and San Pablo avenues while Chevron, the former property owner, devised an engineering plan to protect future occupants of the building from underground pollutants.
At the request of Chevron and the developer, the city is allowing construction to continue without an underground water treatment or remediation system. The remediation system and toxic monitoring wells were in the way of the construction, a Chevron official said. Chevron's laboratory tests show the groundwater below the surface of the site is contaminated with the cancer-causing agent benzene, which is found in gasoline. City and Chevron officials say the contamination at the site doesn't pose a health threat to nearby residents and businesses, although an underground toxic plume is being carried off-site by groundwater.
We don't feel it's a significant risk (to suspend remediation during construction) because continued groundwater monitoring has demonstrated the plume is stable," said Mark Miller, the site assessment and remediation engineer for Chevron. Miller said that during construction, the company would continue to remove gas weekly from an off-site underground well near the west end of the property.
In an August 1993 agreement with the city Chevron promised the existing groundwater treatment system would continue to operate until a new, more elaborate groundwater and soil vapor extraction system was installed. It said remediation would continue during construction.
Now, an on-site treatment and monitoring system won't be operational until building is completed, city officials said. Construction of the Gateway project began in February and is expected to end in late September, according to the contractor. Nabil Al-Hadithy, a hazardous materials specialist with the city's toxics management program, said the migration of the plume is "exceedingly slow" and that the plume should not have moved very far by the time construction is completed.
The plume is traveling in a west-northwest direction toward the Wells Fargo Bank across the street. Al-Hadithy said clay and asphalt above the pollutants would help contain them below ground. A Feb. 27, 1995, Chevron report says samples collected from monitoring wells at the site detected up to 7,600 parts per billion of benzene in the groundwater.
Until 1994, the Maximum legal level of benzene in water was one part per billion- in other words, drinking water standards. But under political pressure, the Regional Water Quality ControlBoard changed that standard where there is no proven use for groundwater, as in this case, Al-Hadithy said. Now, he said, local agencies assess health risks on a case-by-case basis.
What's to worry?: Cityside, Sticks & Stones
EXPRESS August 18, 1995
Sticks & Stones is quite looking forward to the free public program being offered by (UC Extension on October 5 at its Contra Costa Regional Center. 2272 Camino Ramon in San Ramon, titled "What's to Worry About? Toxins in Your Environment."
"Toxins and chemicals all around us-which of them are cause for alarm?" None better to set our minds at ease than Zachary Wong, "toxicologist and a Senior Analyst with Chevron Corporation," who will discuss "real concerns and common misconceptions about environmental poisons."
Perhaps Mr. Wong will address himself to the subject of benzene, a plume of which is migrating from the former Chevron service station (soon to be the hideous new "Gateway" project) on the northeast corner of University and San Pablo in the direction of Strawberry Creek. In February; Chevron reported groundwater concentrations of benzene beneath the site at up to 7,600 parts per billion-or 7,600 times the maximum legal standard for drinking water. Chevron toxicologists, however, convinced the Regional Water Quality Control Board that since no one is drinking the groundwater in the neighborhood, what's to worry'
'There are no residences threatened with impact from the apparently stable plume," concluded the water board, "with the nearest building being a bank." Next door to the Wells Fargo Bank, of course, are the Villa Apartments-whose residents would probably profit by attending Mr. Wong's lecture.
Subject: ARTICLE RE SMELL OF GAS AT STATION SITE
Weldon Rucker, City Manager, May 17, 1995
This site, the former Chevron station at 1101 University Avenue, has been in active remediation since June 1981. To date, 108,201 gallons of water have been pumped out and 2850 cubic yards of soils have been excavated. Significant pollution still exists in the north east portion of San Pablo and University Avenues and on the adjacent corner of the site.
An original agreement between City and Chevron was made to continue clean up (remediation) while construction was on-going. This agreement created a difficulty with the developer and construction crew who claimed that they could not work around wells and pipes. Chevron requested and received permission to remove remediation system and wells from site. All other requirements of the agreement were still active such as designing the new building to house the remediation system. The City determined that the delay of the pumping operation during construction was not going to affect the pollution to any measurable extent.
A Berkeley citizen complained about the removal of remediation system from the site as not meeting the original agreement. The file was reviewed by Toxics staff in view of such changes. It should be understood that the pollution is in the groundwater (over five feet below the ground surface) in concentrations of less than 10 parts per million while the air emissions on a busy city street can be as high as 2 parts per million from vehicular traffic.
In a meeting with responsible parties and property owner, the City Toxics Division and the Regional Water Quality Control Board determined that the pollution on the site was not affecting the residents around the site as the vast majority of the pollution was under the asphalt street, sidewalk and on-site. The City put in new and more restrictive requirements for protecting the health of the future occupants of this site. A building wide barrier and collection system was approved as an additional safeguard. The City required that the previously approved vapor extraction system must undergo testing to prove its effectiveness with an understanding that additional extraction wells may be required if it is found to be inadequate.
The City is also requesting additional sampling to ensure that no residents in the area are being exposed from the groundwater pollution. The responsible party has proven to be very responsive to all requests made so far.
cc: Nabil Al-Hadithy, Hazardous Materials Specialist 11
