[CPEO-MEF] PFAS, REUSE: Separate process for cleaning PFAS from hangar at Alameda Point, CA

[Lenny Siegel <LSiegel@cpeo.org>]

"EPA’s PFAS Ruling Still Leaves Navy Hangar in Limbo” 

By Richard Bangert
Alameda Post (CA)
May 15, 2024

Because Alameda Point has been undergoing environmental cleanup under the jurisdiction of Superfund law, one of the rules requires that the Navy now complete a separate Record of Decision on PFAS before transferring Building 41, the hangar at the corner of West Tower Avenue and Ferry Point Road, to the City. Had PFAS been listed as a hazardous substance when the cleanup process started, the Navy would have dealt with it along the way by doing PFAS assessments, followed by remediation plans where PFAS is present.

But now with Records of Decision approved by the regulatory agencies and the Navy on all 34 cleanup sites, the Navy has no choice but to embark on a separate review process for PFAS. This means completing detailed investigations, health risk assessments, and feasibility studies for remediation of PFAS at the 11 sites identified in the Navy’s August 2023 PFAS report. It is not uncommon for such a process to take five years or more.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) elevated the classification of PFAS chemicals from a “pollutant” to a “hazardous substance” on April 19, 2024. This should have come as good news to the City of Alameda because the Navy will be forever responsible for any contamination problems that might arise later, making way for speeding up the City’s efforts to sell a valuable hangar at Alameda Point to gain revenue for replacing outdated and failing infrastructure. But, not so fast.

…

For the entire article, see
https://alamedapost.com/news/epas-pfas-ruling-still-leaves-navy-hangar-in-limbo/

—

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
Author: DISTURBING THE WAR: The Inside Story of the Movement to Get Stanford University out of Southeast Asia - 1965–1975 (See http://a3mreunion.org)




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