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News Round-Up
Swords to Baseball Diamonds
A leaking landfill at Hamilton Air Force Base in Novato is soon to be capped, the first environmental hurdle to be cleared before the area can be turned over to civilian use. According to S.F. Regional Board's James Nusrala, the Corps was under pressure to resolve two environmental issues. First, it had to find a way to discharge the leachate being extracted from the landfill. Second, the Corps had to provide wetlands mitigation for habitat that will be destroyed when the landfill is capped.
After extensive negotiations with the S.F. Regional Board, the Martin Group Developers and the city of Novato, the Corps has submitted final plans and specs for closing off the contaminated landfill. Once the landfill cap is complete, which should happen by October of 1995, the Martin Group plans to plant grass and trees, turning the former dump into a multipurpose community field. Contact: James Nusrala (510)286-0301
Sacramento River Tells Its Tale
What's coming and going down the river? Sacramento County agencies needed the answer when they started planning to meet requirements of the state's Inland Surface Waters Plan, but adequate data on river contaminants didn't exist. So the city of Sacramento, the Regional County Sanitation District, and the County Water Agency initiated their own Coordinated Water Quality Monitoring Program (CMP) last year.
The program coordinates existing monitoring and conducts new ambient monitoring of the Sacramento and American Rivers. "Ultra-clean" techniques accurately measure extremely low levels of trace elements and water hardness. An online data base allows users to access water quality data via modem. Sacramento County's Bob Shanks says the agencies need the information and remain committed to the $500,000-a-year program. "If there's a lack of information, regulators take a very conservative position. It's also hard to make a good management decision," he said. Contact: Malcolm McEwen (916)753-6400
City Helps Small Business Prevent Metal Pollution
The city of San Jose recently hammered out an agreement with the CLEAN South Bay coalition aimed at stemming the flow of harmful metals from the city's sewage treatment plant into San Francisco Bay while protecting some 5,000 industrial jobs.
Under the agreement, San Jose will provide $2 million that small businesses can use to invest in pollution-cutting equipment and processes. An additional $375,000 will go for a new pollution prevention center. San Jose will also require in-plant audits of the largest industrial dischargers to identify and design potential improvements. In return, the environmental coalition has promised the city a five-year grace period from a lawsuit charging it with 700 violations of metal discharge limits.
"It's telling in light of the current fiscal crisis that San Jose is willing to put $2.5 million on the table to deliver progress," says Michael Belliveau of Citizens for a Better Environment, a member of the coalition. EPA and the S.F. Regional Board are expected to approve the agreement within 90 days. Contact: Greg Karras (415)243-8373
Flyover Still Earthbound
Caltrans has gone back to the drawing board after the design for its proposed high-occupancy vehicle lane flyover (overpass) on the I-80 stretch between Emeryville and the Bay Bridge failed to win approval from S.F. Bay Commissions's Design Review Board at its June 7 meeting. At issue are the imposition of a transportation/ industrial use on land that the San Francisco Bay Plan has designated as a "wildlife priority use area" and potential view impacts from the half-mile-long and up to 33.5-foot-high structure.
Although the amended application "won't be much different," Caltrans is "beefing up [its] environmental enhancement package," says the agency's Judy Chen. A public hearing on the revised proposal will take place on September 16, with a vote expected at the Bay Commission's October 21 meeting. Contact: Jeff Jensen (415)557-3686
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