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

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

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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