Groundwater cleanup back on track at heat treatment site

The groundwater remediation project between two buildings near the East Gate entrance, in the area known as Operating Unit 2B, finally got underway after a long delay in startup since last spring.   During set up, one of the 30-foot-long steel electrodes driven into the ground to generate heat struck a plastic sewer line.  The sewer line [...]

March cleanup meeting announced

Restoration Advisory Board Naval Air Station, Alameda (Alameda Point) March 8, 2012       6:30 PM Location: Alameda Point – 950 West Mall Square (Alameda City Hall West) Room 140 – Community Conference Room Enter from West Midway Avenue at rear of building.   Agenda                     [...]

Todd Shipyards copper cleanup

Right next to the Main Street Ferry Terminal, between the Oakland Estuary and the Dog Park, is the Navy’s cleanup Site 28, also known as the Todd Shipyards site.  The contamination at this site — copper and arsenic, and to a lesser extent lead and hydrocarbons — was not the result of Navy activities, even [...]

Where Alameda Point’s cleanup is at year’s end

  The past year had some high points and low points in the cleanup process at Alameda Point.  Added delays, including a pile-driving surprise, were balanced out by steady progress. The year saw, among other things, completion of a second Point-wide radiological survey of buildings and structures that identified two building interiors needing radium remediation, [...]

Berkeley Lab Site Environmental Plan Released

The Site Management Plan (SMP) for the proposed site of the Berkeley Lab Second Campus at Alameda Point was finalized on November 18.  Prepared by the city’s longtime environmental consultant, and signed off on by the Navy and regulatory agencies, the document was prepared in order to mitigate potential risks associated with development of the [...]

Video: Alameda Point 2011 Cleanup Update

Dr. Peter Russell, the city’s environmental consultant, made a presentation to the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority on November 2, 2011, updating them on the status of cleanup at Alameda Point. This video is an edited version with added images. (Note:  The phrase “closed site” used in the presentation does not mean off limits.  It [...]

Cleaning Up Jet Fuel at Building 5

Background The Navy has three cleanup programs at Alameda Point:  Superfund, Petroleum, and Radiological.  The Petroleum Program takes care of underground concentrations of petroleum, mostly jet fuel, and is organized by corrective action areas.  One such area outside Building 5 made it onto the calendar this year. Dumping jet fuel – Building 5, the largest [...]

Cleaning up a toxic groundwater plume using heat

There are various methods to clean up groundwater contaminated with solvents and petroleum products. Beneficial chemicals can be injected to neutralize the toxic chemicals.  Sometimes bacteria, either those naturally present or some that have been added, can do the job.  In some cases at Alameda Point the Navy inserts steel beams called electrodes into the [...]

Navy Announces Cleanup Plans – Public Meeting August 31, 2011

After years of investigation, the Navy, along with the federal and state regulators, has come up with a remediation plan for 39 acres, encompassing five sites, called Operating Unit 2A. On Wednesday, August 31, the Navy will spell out its plan for remediation and solicit comments.  The meeting will be at City Hall West at [...]

Environmental Cleanup – Update on Site 1

Groundwater The Navy is proceeding with plans to remediate contaminated groundwater at the old disposal site at the northwest tip of Alameda Point.  The contaminated groundwater is within the area known as Site 1, which encompasses over half of the old dump.  In one particular area of the dump, the Navy routinely dumped liquid waste [...]

Environmental Cleanup – Seaplane Lagoon; RAB Tour; Lead; Groundwater

Seaplane Lagoon dredging contractor fails to meet deadline The Navy was expecting the contractor to complete the dredging of both the northeast corner and the northwest corner of the Seaplane Lagoon by mid-April prior to the arrival of the endangered California Least Terns.  The terns nest on the Wildlife Refuge and feed in the Seaplane [...]

Point Being: Are Point Veggies Safe?

Is it safe to eat vegetables grown at Alameda Point? A little-known EPA study conducted in 2005 around the Big Whites and Alameda Point Collaborative housing tried to answer that question. In the study, researchers collected fruits, vegetables and edible weed plants such as apples, figs, tomatoes, fava bean seeds, and also flowers of Cat’s Ear which [...]