A chemical revolution of nearly 100 years duration continues to leave a toxic legacy for this and future generations in California. Over the last 25 years we have made strides in both environmental protection and in the long-awaited cleanup. The legislative process has emphasized the need to make polluters responsible for a complete and timely cleanup.

Now, a regulatory dismembering of this environmental protection in Washington D.C. is being felt all over the country. Over a year ago, the State of California began discussions directed at limiting the cleanup of contaminated sites, focusing primarily on the Leaking Underground Storage Tank program (LUST). The state is considering a proposed regulatory shift that calls for the creation of zones of pollution called "Containment Zones." A Containment Zone, in simple terms, is a designated area where lower groundwater standards will be allowed because of high levels of pollution.

Some proponents of this policy shift have contended that these proposed changes are a response to a poorly constructed program that has been plagued by over-enforcement. The claim is that the responsible parties (RPs) have become a scapegoat to the program based on bad science, the LUST just a scam, and that active remediation of contaminants is no longer necessary. <Read More>
California's Choice: Containment Zones or Clean Water?
L A Wood, California Environmental Law Reporter, April 1996

Toxic Site Cleanups Berkeley	Berkeley City Council Brownfields Policy Presentation	California's Choice: Brownfields or Clean Water	Strawberry Creek Watershed
Berkeley City Council on Environmental Clean Up 1996	Backslide on the Chrome-6 Harrison Skatepark Debacle	Emeryville's NON-Cleanup BROWNFIELD	Berkeley Opts out County's Clean Water Program
Presentation: Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D.	Berkeley's Storm Drain System	Jim Labbe, Audubon Society of Portland	Ecology of Strawberry Canyon
West Berkeley Brownfields	Waterways and Restoration Institute

• 2000 final Public Hearing of the San Francisco Regional Water Control Board on amendments to SB 92-49 and the SF Basin Groundwater Plan that includse the East Bay watershed. Public Comments & Regulatory Deliberations
• Berkeley Needs to Adopt a Management Plan for Its Groundwater Supply
  L A Wood, Berkeley Daily Planet, April 17, 2000
• Survey to Count City's Wells
  Devona Walker, Berkeley Daily Planet, July 12, 2000
• Courtaulds and the West Berkeley Brownfields Movement, Berkeley Zoinig Adjustments Board 2000
• When Is an Urban Creek not a Creek? UC Restoration Project Raises Environmental Questions
  L A Wood, Daily Californian, April 6, 2000
• Berkeley's Stormwater Property Tax: Where's the Money?
  L A Wood, Berkeley Daily Planet, October 29-November 1, 2004
• Historic Well Fields in Berkeley
• A pictorial Essay Walk, Talk, Buck the Fence: What's at stake in the Ecology of Berkeley's Strawberry Canyon? CanyonWalks with Ignacio Chapela, Associate Professor,Ph.D. College of Natural Resources, University of California, Berkeley. March 06, 2007
• Berkeley Opts Out of Clean Water
  L A Wood, Berkeley Daily Planet, March 11, 2008
• Urban Stream Corridor Protection and Restoration
  Jim Labbe, Urban Conservationist, Audubon Society of Portland
• Bay Area Stream Setbacks and Setbacks. January 13, 2005 Kenneth Schwarz, Ph.D.
• Bay Area Stream Buffers: Recent Regulatory Efforts and Next Steps
  Jan. 13, 2005 afternoon session of Conversations About Watersheds Workshop video archived
• City Council May Plunge Into Creek Dispute
  Sasha Talcott, Contributing Writer Daily Californian, May 16, 2000