SF Regional Water Board Deregulates Berkeley Groundwater & Site Cleanup

Lower Groundwater Quality
SF Regional Water Board Deregulates
Berkeley Groundwater & Site Cleanup

Final Public Hearing of the San Francisco Regional Water Control Board on the amendments to SB 92-49 and the SF Basin Groundwater Plan that includes the East Bay watershed and Berkeley. Recorded at the State Office Building Auditorium, First Floor, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland. Board Chair; Josephine De Luca

The hearing was composed of a short presentation by the San Francisco Regional Water Board staff. But more important were the public comments and staff comments that followed, exposing the real impacts of the Board’s revised Environmental Clean-up Policy.

The Water Board’s approval of the amendments to the Basin Plan marked a serious divergence from the CAL EPA decades-long promises to implement incremental environmental clean-ups of contaminated sites and their commitment to groundwater and public health. This shift in clean-up policies was driven by industry, dismissing any recognition of the many beneficial uses for our groundwater resources in the East Bay, including Berkeley. As a consequence, it has turned parts of the SF/Berkeley Basin into one big brownfield zone of pollution disguised by the misleading term: “Containment” Zones.

Public speakers included Geoff Fiedler - Berkeley Toxics Management Division, John Selawsky - Berkeley Environmental Advisory Commission, Pamela Sihvola And Gene Bernardi - Committee to Minimize Toxic Waste and L A Wood - Berkeley Citizen

April 19, 2000 Board adopted Order No. 00-25
Produced by Berkeley Citizen
Copyright 2000
All Labor Donated

NOTE: In March, 1996, the Berkeley City Council responded to what they perceived as a weakening of the State Board Resolution 92-49 in State Board’s Executive Officer Walt Pettit’s proposed amendment to the resolution and in the recommendations found in the LLNL Report. Berkeley took the position that Resolution 92-49 gave Regional Boards authority to suspend remediation requirements on a case-by-case basis and suggested that any further loosening of these requirements not be adopted.

Berkeley felt that “the initial intent of a containment zone policy was to provide a process for the closure of sites that had undergone remediation but for technological and financial considerations were unable to achieve drinking water standards but would still protect human health and the environment. The containment zone policy as currently proposed does not reflect this goal. Therefore, the City of Berkeley will not adopt these policies, as currently proposed.”

Existing Toxics Management Division (TMD) policy is to preserve the water resource, where technologically and financially feasible, and this is consistent with existing State policy and with Berkeley policy set by Council in 1996. In the City’s position (discussed in Council in 1996), the resource is identified first and if found to not be of quality, then a lower level of clean up is required. Berkeley’s policy has several significant benefits, it reduces dependence on EBMUD water, less water is diverted from Sierra and Delta regions and provides an emergency resource if needed in the future.

TMD proposes taking it further by actually correctly identifying and encouraging the use of groundwater for irrigation or industry, where possible. This indicates a commitment of maintaining high environmental and health standards. Source: EAST BAY PLAIN GROUNDWATER BASIN BENEFICIAL USE EVALUATION REPORT Final Report. August 18, 2006 San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board Groundwater Committee

Lower Groundwater Quality SF Regional Water Board Deregulates Berkeley Groundwater & Site Cleanup

Lower Groundwater Quality
SF Regional Water Board Deregulates
Berkeley Groundwater & Site Cleanup