Berkeley Wants Tougher Groundwater Cleanup Rules
William Brand, Oakland Tribune, January 19, 1996

The Planning Commission has entered a dispute with Emeryville and the state Water Resources Board over a plan to ease regulations on cleaning up contaminated groundwater in old industrial sites.

Commissioners are concerned that less strict toxic cleanup standards might in the long run be harmful to cities and contribute to the pollution of San Francisco Bay. The commission voted unanimously to ask the City Council to write a letter to the state board expressing Berkeley's concern.

State law requires developers to attempt to make polluted groundwater pure enough to drink. Developers and property owners commonly spend large amounts of money on the process.

However, the state has proposed a new plan that would create "containment zones" around heavily polluted industrial sites. "It's a recognition of the infeasibility of cleaning up groundwater in some places," said Lisa Babcock, a state supervising geologist.

No matter how much money and time is spent, the groundwater in the zones can never be restored to the high standards the law now requires, she said.

Under the new plan, a developer would have to remove the source of the pollution and demonstrate that the polluted groundwater would not seep off the site, Babcock said. The new regulation would be much less costly in most cases, state regulators believe.

There have been two public hearings on the proposal and a state water board work session will be scheduled in Sacramento later this month or in February, Babcock said. A final vote has not been scheduled.

To take advantage of the new proposal, Emeryville, a city with a large percentage of polluted industrial sites, has applied for a $200,000 federal Environmental Protection Agency grant to survey the city and declare most of the town a toxic containment zone.

It would be the first time a containment zone approach has been used for an entire city.

The Berkeley City Council has already asked its toxics division for a report on the Emeryville and state actions. The planning board wants the City Council to digest the report, then write an urgent letter to the state water board.

"It's a matter of' what you feel in your heart," said Jeff Horowitz, planning commission chairman.

"Very often environmental issues are overlooked until after they affect someone's life directly. I believe it's up to the city to do its part and really look at this idea about underwater contamination seriously," he said. "Emeryville's plan bothers me because the city is right next to San Francisco Bay and whatever is in the water in Emeryville will undoubtedly reach the Bay."

But Babcock said that if the state found out that contamination was seeping off-site, steps would be taken to contain it. The state would require the owner to do more cleanup if necessary, she said.

Emeryville city officials point out that the city has had 100 years of hard industrial use and the containment zone plan would give them a chance to develop vacant property. City Manager John Flores said developer a would take precautions to ensure that contamination does not spread.

But Horowitz said the commission passed its vote after watching a 10-minute video on how groundwater pollution has spread in Berkeley, made by amateur film makers and West Berkeley political activists L A Wood and Carolyn Erbele.

"We just can't subscribe to this toxic containment zone idea," Wood said. "I believe we should continuously work to improve our quality of life, not live with something like polluted groundwater."