Re: [CPEO-BIF] Visit to the Brisbane (CA) Baylands

["lsiegel@cpeo.org" <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Sorry. The correct link to the formatted version of my report is
http://www.cpeo.org/brownfields/BrisbaneReport.doc.

LS



lsiegel@cpeo.org wrote:
> Here's the text of my belated report on a visit, this March, to a large
> brownfields site in Brisbane, California. A formatted version with
pictures
> may be downloaded, as a 452K Word file from
> http://www.cpeo.org/pubs/BrisbaneReport.doc.
> 
> LS
> 
> 
> 
> VISIT TO THE BRISBANE, CALIFORNIA BAYLANDS
> March, 2006
> Lenny Siegel
> 
> On Wednesday, March 1, 2006 I visited Brisbane, California, a small
> community just south of San Francisco. I met with Dana Dillworth, a
> long-time local activist and chair of the new Community Advisory Group
> overseeing the cleanup of the Brisbane Baylands. Dana and other residents
> had petitioned for the Advisory Group under the provisions of the
> California Site Mitigation statute. They expressed concern over
> "piecemealing" and the anticipated loss of natural habitat.
> 
> The Brisbane Baylands comprises several hundred acres between the U.S. 101
> freeway and the developed portion of the city. Roughly half is a former
> municipal landfill that operated in the pre-regulation area, from
> 1932-1967. Most of the remainder was a major Southern Pacific railyard,
> including tracks, a roundhouse, and shops. Contamination reportedly
> includes methane (which may pose an explosive hazard), heavy metals, MTBE
> from a fuel tank farm that is still in business between the two major
> properties, a trichloroethylene (TCE) plume migrating from industrial
> properties just across the San Francisco boundary, and heavy hydrocarbons
> (bunker oil). 
> 
> Source remediation is taking place at the TCE and hydrocarbon sites, but
> Dana is concerned that that the principal remedy elsewhere will be capping
> designed only to prevent surface contact. Authorities have given up hope
of
> making the groundwater safe to drink.
> 
> The City of Brisbane and a private developer are planning for a major,
> mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment of the area. One of the inner
Bay
> Area's largest development parcels, it is located at the terminus of San
> Francisco's planned Third Street Light rail line, along a major freeway,
> and at a CalTrain (commuter train) station. Additional roadway and light
> rail connections are expected.
> 
> This is a complex site, subject to direct environmental oversight. Not
only
> are there a variety of sources and contaminants, but environmental
> regulation is divided between the California Department of Toxic
Substances
> Control (DTSC) and the Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board, with
> the San Mateo Department of Health also having jurisdiction over the
> landfill site. Even if regulation cannot be harmonized under the
leadership
> of one agency, it still should be possible to combine public involvement
> activities for the two agencies' local work. 
> 
> Meanwhile, the city of Brisbane is reviewing a Specific Plan for the area
> and is undertaking an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) under the
> California Environmental Quality Act. The Specific Plan determines the
land
> use, influencing environmental decisions, and the EIR documents
> contamination and environmental response. As elsewhere, it's difficult for
> community members to distinguish the locally driven planning process-which
> may be influenced by the anticipated economic benefits of
> redevelopment-from environmental regulation
> 
> Furthermore, as I have also discovered in other communities, it's easy for
> local officials to mistake the motives of environmental activists. They
> often believe that activists are trying to prevent property reuse, and in
> some cases that may be the case. But in my experience, in Brisbane and
> beyond, most are just trying to make sure that reuse is achieved in a way
> that protects human health and the environment.
> 
> Despite the apparent unwillingness of the Brisbane local government to
> address the Baylands' environmental problems head on, activists are in a
> position to influence the degree of investigation and cleanup that takes
> place. Immediately after my visit, Dana used her own photo of the
> contaminated creek (similar to the one above), taken during our site tour,
> to prompt additional action by the Regional Water Board.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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-- 
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org


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