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Response to Wareham letter (PUBLIC COMMENT)
Tom Butt
Sunday October 02, 2016 - 11:11:00 AM
In his Public Comment of September 30, [Christopher] Barlow [Partner, Wareham Development} stated, “The soil has been approved by the regulatory bodies for storage in Richmond and re-use in the garage project now under development in Emeryville.”
Also, in his September 30 letter to the City of Richmond, Barlow stated, “…the temporary storage at 505 Canal Boulevard has been approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board...”
Based on the statement I received on September 30 from Bruce H. Wolfe, Executive Director of the SF Bay Regional Water Board, Barlow is flat out lying.
Wolfe wrote to me the following:
Tom,Finally, I find it hard to believe, as Barlow said, “We were not aware we required a permit to temporarily store clean fill on private land.” Wareham is a very sophisticated and very successful developer. For them not to know a permit was required indicated they are either lying or incredibly naïve. Take your pick.
Thanks for bringing this situation to our attention. When I asked my staff about it, they said they have looped back to you this afternoon and indicated that this offsite temporary contaminated soil stockpiling was never authorized by the Water Board, nor has the Water Board yet approved of the reuse of this soil onsite in Emeryville. PCBs remain one of our highest priority pollutants to control, so we plan to drill down on this situation to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Let me know if you have further questions or concerns. Thanks!
Bruce H. Wolfe, Executive Officer
SF Bay Regional Water Board
I have been told by several observers but not verified that the soil is in contact with the existing ground, and rain is due today. I hope the removal process will ensure that no residual contamination remains in the soil.
Wareham ha a long history of flouting regulations and conditions of approval in Richmond, so this is not surprising.
