[CPEO-BIF] Activists oppose capping at Astra-Zeneca, Richmond, California

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Pouring concrete over toxic soil where 4,000 apartments may rise is not OK, activists tell Richmond council
City officials gave their blessing to allow developers to cap the contaminated soil and build on top of it, though its ultimately up to the state.

By ALI TADAYON 
Bay Area News Group
September 28, 2019 

RICHMOND - Activists are livid with the Richmond City Council’s recent decision that it’s OK for a developer to pour concrete over an 86-acre brownfield and plop 4,000 apartments atop it instead of removing the toxic soil altogether.

At a meeting Tuesday, they accused the council of settling for a concrete cap of the site because developer Shopoff Realty Investments offered to contribute $52 million toward city programs and services. Capping the former shoreline toxic waste dump with concrete is a far cheaper alternative than hauling away the contaminated dirt.

The Zeneca site east of Marina Bay and west of Interstate 580 has long been a point of controversy in Richmond. Pesticide producer Stauffer Chemical Co. and later pharmaceutical company Zeneca dumped toxic byproducts - including benzene, arsenic and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) - at the site for about 100 years before Zeneca - now known as AstraZeneca - stopped the practice in 1997; the site has been fenced off since.


…

For the entire article, see
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2019/09/28/pouring-concrete-over-toxic-soil-where-4000-apartments-may-rise-is-not-ok-activists-tell-richmond-council/

--

Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
A project of the Pacific Studies Center
LSiegel@cpeo.org
P.O. Box 998, Mountain View, CA 94042
Voice/Fax: 650-961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org





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