Benicia DTSC Correspondence

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

About two weeks ago I posted the draft of a letter to Cal-EPA about the
oversight of an ordnance cleanup and redevelopment project in Benicia,
California. Several of the members of this listserver joined in
endorsing the letter. We faxed the letter, a copy of which appears at
the end of this message,  on the afternoon of March 24. It seems to have
made a difference. I received a phone response on March 25 and a faxed
letter, pasted below, today.

DTSC's official position is that it is studying the Benicia unexploded
ordnance situation, and that it is still determining what oversight role
the agency should play. Clearly state officials now know that people
throughout the state - in fact, across the nation - are watching both
the process and outcome in Benicia, so I am confident that they will do
the right thing.

Please note that we have slightly updated the list of signers since we
submitted the letter to Cal-EPA.

Lenny Siegel





[The reply, on DTSC Stationery]



March 26, 1999

Mr. Lenny Siegel
Executive Director
Center for Public Environmental Oversight
SFSU Downtown Center
425 Market St., 2nd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105

Dear Mr. Siegel:

     Thank you for your correspondence dated March 24, 1999 regarding
the Tourtelot Property in the City of Benicia. The purpose of this
letter is to provide a response and clarify the effort the Department of
Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has underway regarding this site.

     DTSC became aware of the Memorandum of Agreement between the City
of Benicia and the US Army Corps of Engineer (Corps) when some of the
staff who are working on the Braito Landfill cleanup obtained a copy of
a local newspaper article. DTSC received from the City a copy of their
Resolution No. 99-8 on February 19, 1999. The resolution listed a number
of contractual agreements but the text of the various agreements were
not included with the letter.

     On March 3, 1999, I met with staff from the Office of Military
Facilities to discuss some issues and questions regarding the working
relationship between the City, the Corps, and the developer. A number of
actions were agreed upon including obtaining copies of all the
agreements, conducting a detailed review of them, compiling a series of
questions, and arranging for a meeting with the Corps to go over DTSC's
initial list of questions. We have requested a copy of the Statement of
Work between the City and the Corps, but have been told it is still
being drafted.

     Staff are continuing this effort. We anticipate completing this
phase of our research next week. A meeting with the City, the Corps, and
the developer has been arranged for April 2, 1999 in Sacramento. When
DTSC has gathered all the facts, it will be in a position to determine
an appropriate course of action.

     Finally, your letter includes a number of copies to individuals for
whom we do not have addresses. As we discussed, I would appreciate your
seeing that they also receive a copy of this response. If you have any
questions, please contact Mr. Stan Phillippe of my staff at ....

Sincerely,


Paul D. Blais
Deputy Director
Site Mitigation Program

cc: [Winston Hickox, Ed Lowry, Bob Borzelleri, Stan Phillippe]



[The original letter, on CPEO stationery]

March 24, 1999

Winston H. Hickox
Secretary for Environmental Protection
555 Capitol Mall, Suite 525
Sacramento, CA  95814

Dear Sir:

We are writing because it appears that Cal-EPA is failing to oversee the
cleanup of an extremely sensitive former military site in the city of
Benicia. The "Tourtelot Property," formerly part of the Benicia Arsenal,
is slated for residential development. Even though the Army Corps of
Engineers continues to find old munitions on the site - and there may be
other contaminants present -  the Department of Toxic Substances Control
(DTSC) is not taking an active role in remedial efforts. Instead, as the
city of Benicia assumes lead agency role on behalf of the site's
developer, DTSC appears to be relying upon the Army - the responsible
party - to provide "regulatory oversight."

This hands-off attitude not only creates a significant risk for the
people who will eventually live on the Tourtelot Property, it sets a
dangerous precedent.  The Army Corps lists 143 formerly used defense
sites in California known or suspected to contain unexploded ordnance.
While the Corps runs a professional program for characterizing and
remediating those sites, its program is severely constrained by both
technology and funding. Without state insistence that unexploded
ordnance response be conducted to maximize the reduction of risk,
incidents, such as the 1983 death of two boys at the Tierra Santa site
in San Diego, are inevitable.

Nationally, state environmental agencies are insisting upon the right to
participate in the management of risk at munitions ranges and burial
sites. U.S. EPA recognized this authority in the Munitions Rule, and the
Defense Department recognized it in the Proposed Range Rule. However,
unless state regulators assert their rightful roles, the federal rules
are meaningless.

We ask that you immediately instruct DTSC to assign staff to the
Tourtelot project before someone gets hurt.

Sincerely,


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director

Additional sign-ons:

Saul Bloom, ARC Ecology
Anne Callison, Lowry Air Force Base RAB*
Rocco Davis, Laborers International Union Tri-Funds
John Gibbons, John E. Gibbons Associates
Don Gray, Environmental and Energy Study Institute
Myrna Hayes, Mare Island Naval Shipyard RAB
Ted Henry, Community Health Assessment and Public Participation Center
Bonnie Holmes-Gen, Sierra Club
Joan Holtzman, Center for Economic Conversion
Richard Hugus, Otis Conversion Project
Gregory F. Hurley, El Toro Marine Corps Air Station RAB
Doug Kern, Presidio of San Francisco RAB
Patrick Lynch, Clearwater Revival Co.
Pam Miller, Adak Naval Air Station and Fort Richardson RABs
Laura Olah, Citizens for Safe Water at Badger
Elizabeth Patterson, member, Benicia Planning Commission
Grace Potorti, Rural Alliance for Military Accountability
Peter Strauss, P.M. Strauss and Associates
Diane Takvorian, San Diego Environmental Health Coalition
Ray Tompkins, Bayview Hunters Point Coalition on the Environment
Olin Webb, Bayview Advocates
Jane Williams, California Communities Against Toxics
Charles Yarbrough Sr., McClellan Air Force Base RAB

*RAB (Restoration Advisory Board) affiliations are shown for
identification purposes only.

cc: Ed Lowry, Director, Department of Toxic Substances Control


-- 


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
(PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE PHASING OUT
MY OLD E-MAIL ADDRESS: lsiegel@igc.org)
http://www.cpeo.org