Alameda on the Web

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

ALAMEDA POINT

The Clearwater Revival Company, consultant to West End Concerned
Citizens, has developed a excellent web page that carries extensive
information and criticizes the cleanup at Alameda Point, the former
Alameda Naval Air Station here in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Its monthly Environmental Justice Progress Report
<http://home.earthlink.net/~clearh2orev/ejpp.html> has included the
following excerpt and article:

"The ARRA [the reuse authority] has been sealing and replacing asphalt
pavement throughout Alameda Point. In many cases, new asphalt has been
installed over buried fuel line piping that the Navy plans to remove,
together with much of the ARRA's new asphalt, over the next few months.
The Navy's pavement markings showing the fuel line and buried utility
locations has been obliterated by the ARRA's actions. The Navy will now
be required to remark utility locations."

"Estuary Park is a Toxic Waste Site IR Site 25 Announced at May RAB
Meeting.

The RAB first learned of the contamination at Estuary Park at their
February meeting. The information did not come from a technical
presentation by the Navy or from state or federal environmental
agencies. It came from West End Concerned Citizens (WECC).

As EJPP reported in January, Navy risk assessments (based on 1995 soil
sampling) showed that Estuary Park had the highest human health risk of
any property at the Alameda Point Naval Air Station. The cancer risk at
the park was 10,000 times the acceptable risk level for residential
property.

Despite the risk estimated for residential land use, the Navy, US EPA,
and Cal-EPA distributed a 'comfort letter' in April saying the park is
safe for use. The Navy says the park is safe because 'a thick grass
cover' prevents contact with the underlying contaminated soil.

In May, WECC reported to the Navy and regulators a violation of lease
restrictions at Estuary Park. Excavation of soil was performed without
proper health and safety precautions, exposing park users to potential
toxins.

WECC has also inspected the 'thick grass cover' and found it to be of
poor quality - damaged by vehicle tires, pot-holed by gophers, and worn
out around soccer goals, playground equipment and par course stations."

Through the Neighborhood Information on Chemical Hazards in the
Environment (NICHE), Clearwater Revival has made information from the
Navy's Environmental Baseline Survey for Alameda accessible to anyone
with Web access. It provides point-and-click data, such as health risk
screenings, on each parcel at the 1700-acre base. See
<http://home.earthlink.net/~clearh2orev/nasebs.html>. It covers all six
of the Navy's ongoing environmental programs at Alameda.

Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 222B View St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/968-1126
lsiegel@cpeo.org