Source: http://www.willitsnews.com, August 8, 2017
By: Ariel Carmona Jr.

A state funded grant program designed to allow agencies to tackle projects addressing potential harm to human health and safety caused by surface groundwater contamination will be partly used to help clean up the former Redwood Empire Cleaners property, according to a spokesperson for the North Coast Regional Water Control Board.
The former cleaners located at 69 West Mendocino Avenue, along with other properties such as the former REMCO location have created environmental hazards and have been a thorn in civic leaders’ side and in their ability to attract tourists into the area, as have other vacant and abandoned facilities throughout the city.
Clean up of problem properties led to the creation of a proposed city ordinance that would penalize owners of vacant buildings, but after discussion by the city council last fall, the ordinance was placed on hold as planning staff devote their limited resources to completing the city’s cannabis regulations.
The state water board’s website states the grant program has an annual appropriation of $19.5 million to abate human made contaminants.
Andrew DiLuccia, public information officer for the State Water Resources Board said the scope of work funded by the grant includes soil and groundwater sampling, soil vapor and groundwater monitoring. He said the work is currently in process and the funded amount for the project is $505,900.
The program was established by SB 445 (Hill) in 2014. According to the bill’s summary, at least annually the board shall review grant applications and adopt a list of applicants to be awarded grants based on eligibility criteria including those projects in which the responsible party lacks financial resources, those which pose a significant threat to human health or the environment, and those affecting disadvantaged or small communities.
According to a fact sheet put out by the regional water board, members of the public can review a copy of a clean up plan from now until Sept. 1. at the Willits Public Library or online through the board’s Geo Tracker website located at http://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/profile_report?global_id=SL0604593246
The clean up plan addresses volatile organic compounds from the dry-cleaning solvent known as PCE (tetrachloroethene) in soil, indoor air and groundwater from dry cleaning operations at the facility conducted between 1946 through 2004.
“This is a fairly routine thing,” said Craig Hunt, senior water resource control engineer supervisor at the regional water board in reference to the public notice of the agency’s planned clean-up efforts. However, he added there is a potential for contaminants to affect some of the properties adjacent to the property including a couple of commercial buildings on the East side of the vacant facility.

“What we do is inject some compounds into the ground that promote degradation of contaminants,” Hunt said, elaborating on some of the engineering efforts to clean up the site.
Other proposed remedies to address the presence of environmental hazards according to the proposed clean up plan include the excavation and disposal of approximately 160 cubic yards of source area soil from beneath the former dry cleaning machine, and installation and operation of a soil vapor extraction treatment system at the site.
The documentation by the regional water board agency sent to stakeholders and available online notes pilot testing of a soil vapor extraction treatment system in 2013 was effective in removing volatile organic compounds from vapors within the soil. Testing of groundwater chemicals in 2016 also resulted in the reduction of concentrations of PCE and its breakdown products in groundwater at the site.
In 2007, the city brought a lawsuit against Mildred Sanchez as trustee of the Sanchez family trust, which owned the property. According to the settlement agreement made public by the city, during the course of constructing the Wood and School Street parking lot project, city staff discovered the soil and groundwater underneath the property was contaminated with PCE. The lawsuit was filed for the purpose of recovering costs associated with disposing of the contaminated soil as required by the state water board.
According to the agenda for the City Council meeting dated June, 9 2010 when the lawsuit was discussed by city officials, the settlement suggested by the city to the property owners’ insurance totaled $45,000.
Hunt said the grant now helping to pay for the clean-up work at the property is part of the first group of projects funded through this new state grant program. He added PCE is a carcinogen and long term exposure can lead to increased cancer risk because of its volatility.
“That’s why we’d well be concerned about the intrusions of vapors to adjacent buildings,” said Hunt.