[CPEO-MEF] Benicia's real fixer-upper

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California
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Benicia's real fixer-upper
Army site cleaned up for housing
By Corey Lyons
Posted on Mon, Nov. 24, 2003

BENICIA - Deep lacerations slash the dry hillside, scars of TNT
explosive strips. A gaping hole in the earth marks an old demolition
pit.

Crews have clawed large chunks out of this old ranch land, sifting
through every inch of dirt in an unprecedented hunt for leftover
military weapons and hazardous soil.

So far, nearly 800 pieces of ordnance and explosives have been lifted
from what is called the Tourtelot property. Every item is being
destroyed.

This is unlike any housing construction project in California history.

Capping years of multi-agency wrangling and grave environmental
concerns, a developer is turning land once used by the Army to test
explosives into the last sizable housing project in the city.

When the Tourtelot project in northeast Benicia is finished in three to
five years, it will be called the Waters End subdivision and will
include 417 houses. It is the final piece of developable land in a
sprawling, 5,000-unit housing project called Southampton Hills, which
began in the late 1960s.

The first Tourtelot parcel, about 25 acres, has already been cleaned and
approved by the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, the lead
agency involved.

"We can eat the dirt here, if we wanted to," said Frank Cota, an
independent quality control manager at Tourtelot.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/news/7337363.htm

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