City Makes Water a Concern Protesting Emeryville's plans to lower water standards
Apul Kirit Patel, Daily Californian, February 1996

The Berkeley City Council agreed Tuesday night to send a letter in March to the State Water Resources Board over concerns about containment zones and their effect on groundwater.

The city's Planning Commission, after viewing a local resident's film documenting the spread of polluted groundwater through Berkeley, asked the council to compose the letter. The statement would criticize plans by the city of Emeryville to lower groundwater standards and would ask that the city not be allowed to a containment zone policy.

The commission had asked the council to submit the letter this month, but concerns over lack of information prompted the council to defer action until March 5 so city staff can complete a detailed analysis of the impacts of the proposed containment policy.

During the public comment period on Tuesday, some residents criticized the council's decision to delay sending the letter. "We can have this studied afterward," said Daniel Horodysky. "But go ahead with a letter of concern."

Steve Beicher, assistant city manager, said information was already being gathered on the issue. He added city officials have done some research on brownfields, or contaminated areas, and their relationship to groundwater coming from Emeryville.

"We are at the midpoint in collecting and analyzing the information we need," Beicher said.

LA. Wood, a staunch opponent of containment zones, who made the video, said after the meeting that he was satisfied with the council's actions. "One of my goals is education, and we're going to be educated for another month," Wood said. "I think they're moving in the right direction and I would have been surprised if it had gone any other way. City government moves slow."

Companies that develop on containment zones could save a large amount of money because, in cases of contamination, they only have to remove sources of pollution and show that tainted groundwater can be contained. Without the declaration, state Law requires developers to take costly measures to ensure that polluted groundwater is cleaned up. According to Wood, 50 percent of the state's domestic drinking water comes from groundwater.

Emeryville, which borders Berkeley on the south, recently applied for a $200,000 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to survey the city and possibly declare most of the city a containment zone. Wood and the Planning Commission are especially concerned because contaminated groundwater can migrate from Emeryville into Berkeley and into the San Francisco Bay.