[CPEO-BIF] Watkins-Johnson facility, Stanford Research Park, Palo Alto, California

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Toxics cleanup study to begin at Palo Alto site
Contamination at former Watkins-Johnson facility in Stanford Research  
Park to be examined

by Sue Dremann
Palo Alto Weekly (CA)
May 1, 2014

The site of a former electronics firm in Palo Alto will soon undergo  
a pilot study for possible cleanup of hazardous materials deposited  
there since the late 1950s, the California Department of Toxic  
Substances Control has announced.

The contamination is located at the former Watkins-Johnson facility  
at 3333 Hillview Ave. in the Stanford Research Park. Hazardous levels  
of volatile organic compounds, or VOCs, such as tetrachloroethylene  
and trichloroethylene were found in the groundwater during an  
investigation of site soil and water between 1991 and 1993, according  
to the DTSC. The site was first developed in 1958 for the design,  
development and manufacture of advanced electronics for military,  
industrial and space applications. Cleanup has been underway since 1995.

A pilot study starting on May 5 will examine using microbes that  
ingest hazardous chemicals and change them into benign substances.  
Workers will inject an emulsified vegetable oil into existing wells  
on the site and two weeks later, they will add injected  
dehalococcoides microbes, which are expected to enhance the breakdown  
of chemicals at the site and are commonly used for bioremediation  
projects of this nature. The sampling and injection areas may be  
blocked off during the trial period, which is expected to last two  
weeks, DTSC officials said.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2014/05/01/toxics-cleanup-study- 
begins-at-palo-alto-site

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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