HomeMy WebLinkAboutEQCB Min 2001-12-19
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1CITY OF SEAL BEACH
Environmental Quality Control Board
Minutes of December 19, 2001
The Environmental Quality Control Board (EQCB) meeting of December 19, 2001 was
called to order by Chairperson Porter at 6:30 p.m. The meeting was held in City Council
Chambers.
Pledge of Allegiance
II Roll Call
Present:
Absent:
Chairperson Porter, Members Hurley, Jones, Unrath, and Voce
None
Also
Present:
Department of Development Services
Mac Cummins, Assistant Planner
III Approval of Agenda
Member Voce requested that Item No. 1 be removed from the Agenda and that it be
placed under "Scheduled Matters" on the Agenda for the January 2002 meeting.
MOTION by Hurley; SECOND by Voce to approve the Agenda as amended.
MOTION CARRIED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
5-0
Hurley, Jones, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
IV Oral Communications
Chairperson Porter opened Oral Communications.
There being no one wishing to speak, Chairperson Porter closed Oral Communications.
1 These Minutes were transcribed from an audiotape of the meeting.
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
V Consent Calendar
2. RECEIVE AND FILE - Letter to California Coastal Commission. Re: Local
Coastal Plan Grant. Letter dated December 4, 2001.
3. RECEIVE AND FILE - Letter to Department of Navy. Re: City of Seal Beach
Comments Re: Site Management Plan Update for Naval Weapons Station,
Seal Beach Installation Restoration Program.
MOTION by Hurley; SECOND by Voce to approve the Consent Calendar as amended.
MOTION CARRIED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
5-0
Hurley, Jones, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
VI Scheduled Matters
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - November 28,2001
Recommendation: Approve Minutes subject to any corrections determined
appropriate.
Chairperson Porter commented that it was his understanding that the EQCB had a
standing policy with Staff to provide a list of any technical corrections to the minutes for
delivery to the Department Secretary. Mr. Cummins confirmed that this was correct.
MOTION by Voce; SECOND by Hurley to Approve Minutes of November 28, 2001 as
presented.
Chairperson Porter noted that Member Jones would abstain from voting on this item as
he was absent from the meeting of November 28,2001.
MOTION CARRIED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
4-0-1
Hurley, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
Jones
5. City Response Letter Re: "Response to Notice of Preparation - Haynes
Generating Station Repowering Project, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Department
of Water and Power, Long Beach."
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
Recommendation: Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft response letter,
with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff to
forward to the City Council for Information.
Member Unrath noted that the re-powering of two units is mentioned and he inquired
whether any others had already been re-powered. Mr. Cummins explained that Staff
had received a Notice of Preparation (NOP) on this item and had not received a copy of
the Environmental Impact Report (EIR). He stated that Staff does not usually submit a
comment letter for a NOP, but in this particular situation because the project abuts the
Seal Beach City Limits and may have substantial potential impacts, Staff determined
that a comment letter would be justified. He provided a brief overview of the contents of
the comment letter noting mention of evaluation for impacts to air quality, noise levels,
aesthetics, public services hazards, and hazardous materials. Mr. Cummins stated that
when the Draft EIR is received, the document would be reviewed to determine whether
mitigation measures are included to address the items noted in the comment letter.
Member Voce thanked Staff for taking the initiative in preparing this comment letter at
this stage of the document preparation process for this proposed project.
Member Hurley noted corrections to Pages 8 and 9 of the comment letter. He also
requested clarification of the "one-hour maximum ground concentration for ammonia
slip," which Mr. Cummins explained was a method for measurement for concentrations
of ammonia in the ground.
Chairperson Porter noted a correction to his middle initial on Page 13, the signature
page of the letter noting that his middle initial is "E," not "H."
MOTION by Voce; SECOND by Porter to Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft
response letter, with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff
to forward to the City Council for Information.
MOTION CARRIED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
5-0
Hurley, Jones, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
6. City Response Letter Re: "Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis Non-Time
Critical Removal Action at Installation Restoration (IR) Program Site 73 (Water
Tower Area), Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station (NWS), Seal Beach,
California." Report dated November 2001."
Recommendation: Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft response letter,
with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff to
forward to the City Council for Information.
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
Mr. Cummins reported that Staff had received a Cost Removal Study for Site 73 of the
Naval Weapons Station (NWS), where the water tower was located and the surrounding
area along Seal Beach Boulevard. He stated that when it was still in existence, the
water tower was periodically sandblasted before being repainted and contaminants from
that process have seeped into the soil creating contamination. He said that the NWS is
proposing one of two actions:
o No action
o Excavate the soil with off-site disposal.
Mr. Cummins noted that if the latter action is chosen, the NWS proposes two options:
1. Excavation with off-site disposal, using mechanical excavation.
2. Initial data recovery period with 15% of the soil manually excavated for further
analysis.
Mr. Cummins stated that for either process there would be both an archaeological
monitor and a Native American monitor on site. He explained that these were
comments the City had included in the 1999 comment letter, and the NWS had also
included them in their Study on Site 73. He stated that the NWS is recommending that
Option 1 be elected, and Staff had indicated that they were in agreement with this
recommendation. He reported that subsequently he had met with Vice-Chairperson
Hurley who pointed out that in a prior NWS document received by the City, one of the
recommendations made by the archaeologist was to have the top portion of the soil
manually excavated. As a result, Staff has changed its position in support of the
archaeologist's recommendation, and has drafted a revised comment letter. Mr.
Cummins stated that the NWS document reports on concentric rings of contamination,
but included only the area up to the boundary of the NWS, yet these rings of
contamination continue out beyond Seal Beach Boulevard (SBB). The comment letter
recommends that remediation of this contamination continue beyond the NWS
boundary to SBB.
Chairperson Porter questioned whether the City should seriously consider tearing up
SBB to remove dirt from underneath. Mr. Cummins responded that Staff was simply
recommending that the NWS investigate this matter further to determine the extent of
any contamination. Chairperson Porter asked how to remediate this problem without
mechanical removal of the soil. Mr. Cummins stated that only the top 15% of the soil
would be manually excavated with the remainder mechanically excavated.
Vice-Chairperson Hurley made recommendations for revising the text to include more
emphasis on the recommendation for manual excavation and data recovery before
beginning mechanical excavation.
Member Voce recalled that the last time the water tower had been painted it had been
difficult to control the scattering of paint particles during the sandblasting process.
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19,2001
MOTION by Voce; SECOND by Hurley to Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft
response letter, with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff
to forward to the City Council for Information.
MOTION CARRIED:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
5-0
Hurley, Jones, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
Vice-Chairperson Hurley requested that a copy of the final letter be provided to the
EQCB board member at the January 2002 letter as a RECEIVE AND FILE item.
7. City Response Letter Re: "Engineering Evaluation/Cost Analysis (EE/CA), Non-
Time Critical Removal Action for Site 7 Station Landfill, Naval Weapons
Station, Seal Beach." Report dated October 29, 2001."
Recommendation: Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft response letter,
with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff to
forward to the City Council for Information.
Mr. Cummins stated that this item had originally been scheduled for the November 2002
meeting, however, upon reviewing the documentation on this item, he had determined
that he would require more time to review the reports prior to composing a response
letter. He reported that Site 7 was formerly a refuse landfill area, which has been
divided into 6 separate areas. He indicated that the NWS has proposed 4 alternatives
for cleaning up this area as follows:
1. Do nothing.
2. Cap the area surrounding Areas 1 and 2 and remove surface debris from
areas 3, 4, and 6, with area 5 completely excavated and removed.
3. Repair soil in Areas 1 and Area 2 and remove surface debris from areas 3, 4,
and 6, with area 5 completely excavated and removed.
4. Complete excavation and cleaning of Areas 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
Mr. Cummins noted that the NWS is recommending Alternative 3 and Staff is basically
in agreement with some additional comments regarding. He indicated that Alternative 4
would be too costly and Area, 3 4, and 6 basically have surface level contamination. He
stated that the ultimate goal for this site is that the areas in the Wildlife Refuge be
cleaned to a level that the ecosystem is natural and is not inhibited by contaminants,
and that areas outside the Wildlife Refuge are clean to a residential standard.
Member Voce commented on his discussion at the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB)
meeting regarding placing a cap on the area, but he indicated that this land sits in water
and capping the top would simply allow the bottom part of the soil to absorb the
contaminants.
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
Vice-Chairperson Hurley noted a correction to Page 10 and indicated that he would
prefer that on line 3 the word "sanctity" be change to "viability."
Chairperson Porter commented that the NWS document states that even though the soil
to be capped would be sitting in water that there was no evidence of any migration of
any contaminants. Member Voce confirmed that the document does state this,
however, he remains unconvinced that this is true.
Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked which area sits in water. Mr. Cummins reported that
various areas at this site do float under water. He said that areas 3, 4, and 6 only have
surface areas of debris. He stated that the major areas of concern would be Areas 1
and 2. Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked if NWS had indicated a time frame after which
there would be no further remediation. Mr. Cummins stated that he did not see any
comment on this in the document. He said that he believed there is a statute of
limitations for finding further contamination at any site.
MOTION by Voce; SECOND by Porter to Authorize the Chairman to sign the draft
response letter, with any additional comments determined appropriate, and instruct staff
to forward to the City Council for Information.
MOTION CARRIED:
A YES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
5-0
Hurley, Jones, Porter, Unrath, and Voce
None
None
VII Staff Concerns
Regarding Item No.1, Mr. Cummins noted that there was not much more that could be
added to the document, but he would be happy to place the item on the Agenda for the
January 2002 meeting.
VIII Board Concerns
Vice-Chairperson Hurley requested more information on Item NO.2. Mr. Cummins
reported that the Department of Development Services had filed a request to the
California Coastal Commission (CCC) to receive grant money to certify a Local Coastal
Plan (LCP) for the City of Seal Beach. He indicated that the grant was approved with
half of the funding provided to draft and certify a LCP. Chairperson Porter asked
whether other coastal cities had an LCP. Mr. Cummins reported that many cities do
and that the LCP will allow the City to issue coastal permits for certain minor types of
development applications without having to go before the CC.
Vice-Chairperson Hurley inquired as to whether the October 18, 2002 minutes had been
corrected to reflect the correct information regarding the 22 Freeway/605 Freeway
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
ramps. Mr. Cummins reported that the correct information had been confirmed with Mr.
Whittenberg and entered by the Department Secretary.
Vice-Chairperson Hurley asked if the copy of the California Coastal Commission (CCC)
Permit for the Hellman Project had been received, and if a copy was now available, as
he had requested at the November 2002 meeting. Mr. Cummins reported that a copy of
the permit was not yet available, but he would provide a copy as soon as it is received.
He indicated that the Permit would not be issued until the Hellman Ranch has met all of
the special conditions, which they are currently in the process of doing.
Member Voce asked if any grading had begun on the Hellman property. Mr. Cummins
stated that grading permits would not be issued until the CCC releases their permit.
Vice-Chairperson Hurley commented on a letter from the Navy in response to a letter
sent on behalf of the EQCB back in August or September complaining that the Navy
had not adequately addressed concerns of the Board regarding Navy restoration
activities. He asked that the letter be reviewed in relation (0 the comments made in the
EQCB letter.
Member Unrath reported that the Public Works Department has begun destruction of
the block wall along Lampson Avenue, improving the view from College Park East. He
extended his compliments to the City.
Chairperson Porter commented that the berm along the beach appears to be configured
differently than in previous years. He asked if this configuration was working better. Mr.
Cummins responded that he was not aware of a new configuration. Member Voce
noted that he had spoken with a resident of Old Town who expressed his concerns over
the grade of sand mixed in with the beach sand, which is apparently very fine sand that
becomes airborne more readily creating a dustier environment. Chairperson Porter
interjected that he believed sand from the one side of the beach had simply been shifted
to the other side. Chairperson Porter stated that the berm appears to be working better
than in previous years. Member Voce noted that residents living near the beach should
keep their windows and doors closed to limit their exposure to the dust.
IX Adjournment
Chairperson Porter adjourned the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and extended best wishes for
the holiday season.
Respectfully Submitted,
~,~
Carmen Alvarez, Executive Secretary
Department of Development Services
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City of Seal Beach Environmental Quality Control Board
Meeting Minutes of December 19, 2001
The Board on February 27, 2002 approved the Mi~tes of the Environmental Quality
Control Board of Wednesday, December 19, 2001. ~.
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