HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 09171991 - H.A H.A.
THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA
Adopted this Order on September 17, 1991 by the following vote:
AYES: Supervisors Fanden, Schroder, McPeak, Torlakson and Powers
NOES: None
ABSENT: None
ABSTAIN: None
SUBJECT: Contaminated Soils, Byron area
Dr. William Walker, County Health Officer, submitted the
attached report with respect to contaminated Soils in the Byron area.
Supervisor Torlakson suggested that the Health Officer
prepare a flyer with respect to health impacts from the pile of
contaminated soil.
IT IS BY THE BOARD ORDERED that the report of the County
Health Officer is ACCEPTED.
IT IS BY THE BOARD FURTHER ORDERED that the Chair is
DIRECTED to send a letter to Unocal requiring immediate clean-up of
the contaminated soil, with copies of the letter going to the
Commissioners of the Byron Fire Protection District and the Byron
Civic Organizations.
1 hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of
an action taken and entered on the minutes of the
Board of Supervisors o the d to shown.
ATTESTED: 9 y
PHIL SATCHEL(Al.Clerk of the Board
of Supervisors and County Administrator
By - ,Deputy
cc: County Administrator
County Health Officer
County Counsel
Community Development - Environmental
a-.nn
SE L Contra Costa County
Health Services Department
William B. Walker, M.D.
Medical Director and
�n. County Health Officer
STS COU;:
TO: Board of Supervisors
FROM: William Walker, M.D.
V"r
Health Officer �`�
BY: Timothy PotteYr
Deputy Director of Environmental Health
SUBJ: Report on Contaminated Soils in Byron
DATE: September 17, 1991
The stockpiled soils present in the Byron area originated from a
complaint that was registered with Contra Costa County Health
Services Department (CCCHSD) by a representative with the Byron-
Bethany Irrigation District. The complaint alleged that
contaminated soil was being revealed during trenching work on an
underground natural gas pipeline that was being installed by
Unocal. CCCHSD and a CCC District Attorney investigator responded
to the complaint and observed that soil and water had been
contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons at several points along
the Southern Pacific Railroad line parallel to Highway 4.
Unocal and ARB, Unocal' s contractor, were directed to collect the
contaminated water from the trench and to cease filling in the
trench with the contaminated soil. After preliminary analysis
confirmed the soil was contaminated with hydrocarbons, CCCHSD
directed Unocal to stockpile all the contaminated soils removed
from their trench before analysis and proper disposal.
A Proposition 65 notification was generated for the Byron area as
a result of the original complaint. Private domestic water
supplies were sampled and analyzed in order to determine if the
community was at risk. Analytical results of these samples showed
that no contamination had occurred.
The incident results in two distinct projects. One involving the
environmental contamination that was discovered and the other
involving the stockpiled soils that were removed during the
trenching activity. Following is a brief history of the
environmental contamination project and a more detailed discussion
of the stockpiled soils project.
CCCHSD called a meeting to discuss this incident with Unocal and
three pipeline operators (Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline, Chevron and
Texaco) who are potential responsible parties for the contamination
20 Allen Street • Martinez,CA 94553 • (415)370-5010 Office • (415)370-5098 FAX
A-428 (10i90)
Board of Supervisors
September 17, 1991
Page 2
that was found. During this meeting, Unocal agreed to contract
with a consultant to develop a soil sampling work plan that would
attempt to identify the generator of the contamination. Unocal
also agreed to "profile" the stockpiled soils in order to determine
what options were available to properly handle the material.
Unfortunately, the consultant's report to Unocal was unable to
clearly identify the generator. As a result of the above meeting,
it appeared that the three pipeline operators were willing to work
cooperatively towards identification of the hydrocarbons that
resulted in the contamination.
CCCHSD sent a letter dated February 19, 1991 to the Sacramento
Regional Water Quality Control Board (SRWQCB) outlining our
concerns over the threat to groundwater in the area. The SRWQCB
responded with a letter dated March 13 , 1991 giving oversight of
this project to CCCHSD with a statement that if the cooperative
agreement between the pipeline operators did not hold then they
would be available to assume the lead responsibility.
CCCHSD called another meeting with Unocal and the three pipeline
operators to review the first consultant report and to develop a
strategy on how to proceed with the project to identify the
potential generators of the original contamination in the area.
Subsequent to this meeting, SFPPL began to withdraw their support
for continuing on with the investigation and Texaco began raising
questions about their legal liability for being required by CCCHSD
to proceed with this project. During a meeting on July 3, 1991,
SFPPL, Chevron and Texaco agreed to contribute one-third to the
characterization project that was intended to identify the
potential generator of the environmental contamination in the Byron
area.
As noted above, the contaminated stockpiled soils are being managed
as a separate project with Unocal being the company responsible for
the proper handling. Unocal complied with all CCCHSD directives to
manage the contaminated soil, including contracting with a
consultant to analyze ( "profile" ) the soil and evaluate options for
the proper disposal. More than 4,000 cubic yards of soil is
involved with this project. Approximately 2,400 cubic yards are
located within the city of Byron. Potential exposure to this soil
is controlled by having a chain link fence surrounding the soil and
a plastic cover being placed over it. The remaining soil is
located along Highway 4 at five different locations.
In February, 1991 CCCHSD received complaints that the cover over
the soil within Byron had blown off and that the soil was exposed.
CCCHSD contacted both Unocal and their consultant to inform them of
this observation and their obligation to maintain the cover.
Board of Supervisors
September 17 , 1991
Page 3
Unocal and their consultant took some time to produce a work plan
for proper handling of the stockpiled contaminated soil. A
sampling and characterization plan was submitted to CCCHSD dated
May 7, 1991. CCCHSD notified Unocal of its approval of this work
plan in a letter dated May 23, 1991. The results of this
characterization plan were submitted to CCCHSD by Unocal in a
letter dated August 19, 1991. In this letter, Unocal indicated
that they did not plan to proceed with removing the soil until the
pipeline operators agreed to pay for the project. CCCHSD does not
concur with Unocal' s position and will pursue all options available
to ensure that Unocal properly handles the contaminated soils in an
expeditious manner.
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