[thanks to Tom Butt for this article]
West County Times, December 20, 2002
Richmond denies research site appeal
Council requests uranium study but says no environmental impact report is needed for ex-Stouffer Chemical land
By Rebecca Rosen Lum

RICHMOND - The city has given its blessing to a sprawling research and development complex on the former Stouffer Chemical Co. site -- no environmental study required.

Simeon Properties will build on 28 of the 86 acres it purchased from Zeneca Corp., directly south of Interstate 580 at the Bayview Avenue interchange.

Oakland-based Communities for a Better Environment had appealed a planning commission decision to let Simeon skip an environmental review of the site.

A deeply divided council ultimately backed the commission's decision but requested further investigation into possible uranium contamination, indemnifying the city if contaminants are found.

"Our basic position is that contamination issues must be looked at before a permit is issued, not afterward," said Adrienne Bloch, staff attorney for Communities for a Better Environment.

Bloch condemned the "complete lack of analysis" of possible radioactive and toxic materials at the site, even though federal legislation makes children who lived in the area eligible for compensation.

The council did not specify what materials should be studied or how, nor did it say what steps would be taken if toxic substances were discovered.

At issue are the 52 acres that Simeon has not committed to any particular project. Pocked with toxic hot spots resulting from chemical production and dumping dating back to the late 1800s, the ravaged land is undergoing a massive cleanup.

Arsenic and lead have turned up in adjacent marshlands; wells and drilled holes revealed concentrations of toxic metals, PCBs, and DDT.

Those who recall the plant's festering heyday, when sour smells and eerie sights were a daily given in the lives of neighborhood children, called for a full environmental review.

"I was just a little girl," said former resident Ethel Dotson, who attended the hearing. "I used to like to play outside in the rain. That stuff would just be flowing all along the walkways." She also remembered dunes of yellow material, "and did it smell bad."

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Department of Energy have identified the site as one of 20 in the state that may have processed radioactive and toxic materials in a secret project during the Cold War. Yet there was no environmental testing required before the Seaport Village housing development went up on neighboring lots.

Jay Paxton, a lawyer for Simeon, said the 28-acre parcel where the research facility will be built has a clean bill of health. The project should not be held up because the remainder is contaminated, he said.

"This site has two very distinct areas," he said. "Our site is quite clean. It has been extensively studied. It's to be used for the same purpose as before -- as a research and development campus."

Paxton said the company voluntarily contacted the state Water Quality Control Board for guidance on bringing the relevant portion of the acreage into compliance. The board issued a "No Further Action Necessary" letter after the company took corrective steps.

He also said there has only been one instance of uranium use, during a two-week period in 1961. The experiment was conducted inside a vacuum tube, and all waste was carried out in enclosed containers, he said.

City planning director Barry Cromartie said a complete environmental review now would require the firm to tear down the existing buildings and dig into the ground.

"There needs to be concrete evidence of toxics and radiation to justify an EIR, and to date we don't have that in front of us," he said.

In addition, "it's difficult to ask for an EIR when the future uses of part of that land are not known and the site in question is clean. You do one kind for residential use. You do another for commercial use. You would be wasting money to do an EIR now."

Zeneca has spent $18 million to rehabilitate the site, which Richard Mitchell of the Richmond Redevelopment Agency said "is unprecedented and demonstrates their commitment."

In fact, the company was ordered by the Bay Area Water Quality Control Board to take care of contamination at the site two years ago. Polluted water is being pumped and treated and the soil capped.

The firm's representatives acknowledged that no outside source has conducted an independent study.

"They may figure, 'Well, we'll figure it out as we go along,' and maybe they will, but the whole point is to let the public find out all these things and participate," Bloch said.