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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAAC Min 2005-02-07 CITY OF SEAL BEACH Archaeological Advisory Committee Minutes of February 7, 2005 The Archaeological Advisory Committee (AAC) meeting of February 7, 2005 was called to order at 5:30 p.m. The meeting was held in the City Council Chambers. I. Call to Order II. Roll Call Present: Chairperson Vesely Members Dixon and Fitzpatrick Absent: Member Coles and Hoy Also Present: Department of Development Services Lee Whittenberg, Director III. Approval of Agenda MOTION by Fitzpatrick; SECOND by Dixon to approve the Agenda as presented. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 3-0-2 Vesely, Dixon, and Fitzpatrick None Coles and Hoy Mr. Whittenberg noted for the record that Member Coles had arrived for the meeting. IV. Oral Communications None V. Consent Calendar I. RECEIVE AND FILE Letter from City of Seal Beach to California Coastal Commission re: "Application No. 5-03-355, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Specific Plan," dated August 9, 2004. 2. RECEIVE AND FILE Letter from City of Seal Beach to Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station re: City of Seal Beach Comments re: "Draft Project Closeout Report, Non- Time Critical Removal Action, Installation Restoration Program Site 7 (Station Page 10f7 City of Seal Beach Archaeological AdvlsOIY Comnllttee Meeting MlI1utes of Februmy 7, 2005 Landfill) and Site 4 (Perimeter Road AOPCs IA and 2A), Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach," dated August 9, 2004. 3. RECEIVE AND FILE Letter from City of Seal Beach to California Coastal Commission re: "Application No. 5-03-355, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems Specific Plan," dated August ll, 2004. 4. RECENE AND FILE Memorandum dated August 24, 2004 re: Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station - Installation Restoration Program - Status Report re: RAB Project Update. 5. RECENE AND FILE Memorandum dated October 27, 2004 re: Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station - Installation Restoration Program - Status Report re: RAB Project Update. 6. RECEIVE AND FILE Memorandum dated January 3, 2005 re: Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station - Installation Restoration Program - Status Report re: RAB Project Update. 7. RECEIVE AND FILE Memorandum dated January 13, 2005 re: Seal Beach Naval Weapons Station - Installation Restoration Program - Status Report re: RAB Project Update. MOTION by Dixon; SECOND by Fitzpatrick to approve the Consent Calendar as presented. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: VI. Scheduled Matters 4-0-1 Vesely, Coles, Dixon, and Fitzpatrick None Hoy 8. Approval Of Minutes Of August 9, 2004. Recommendation: Approve Minutes with any cOlTections detennined appropriate. MOTION by Coles; SECOND by Vesely to approve the Minutes as amended. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 4-0-1 Vesely, Coles, Dixon, and Fitzpatrick None Hoy Page 2 of7 City of Seal Beach Archaeological AdvlsOIY Committee Meetmg M/I1ules of February 7, 2005 9. Receipt of Public Comments and Committee Review of Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration 05-l - Hellman Tank Farnl Replacement Program. Recommendation: Committee elicit public comments and Committee to provide comments regarding Initial StudyIMitigated Negative Declaration 05-l to assist the City Council in determining that the ISIMND will reduce identified environmental effects to less than significant. Receive and File Staff Report. Committee Questions/Comments Member Coles stated that he felt the report to be "sub par," and in general he didn't like it. He asked how the existing facility is to be demolished, and how the remaining facilities will be dealt with from an archeological and environmental pollutant perspective. He noted that this facility has been polluting for 50 years. Mr. Whittenberg stated that those facilities are to remain in place and are not to be removed. He said that this would be part of a subsequent environmental evaluation at a point when Hellman Ranch proposes to do this work. Member Coles stated that the photographs of the site in the report are of poor quality, and the documents are difficult to read. He suggested that the quality of work should be evaluated when selecting consultants to produce these documents. He then stated that he has a number of comments that he intends to present to the Environmental Quality Control Board that are not related to the archaeological aspects. Mr. Whittenberg clarified that Staff and not a consultant had prepared the report; however, the applicant had provided the graphics. Member Coles emphasized enhancing the graphics and noted that he has a number of comments with respect to NPDES and other issues. Chairperson Vesely commented that when he received his copy of the IS/MND it was missing pages, but Staff quickly replaced it with a new, complete copy. Mr. Whittenberg noted that at the time the report was copied, Staff was experiencing some technical problems with the copier when programmed to make double-sided copies. Mr. Whittenberg announced for the record that Member Hoy arrived at 5:45 p.m. Chairperson Vesely continued by asking if there were any known leaks and subsurface plumes at this location. Mr. Whittenberg asked if as far as a subsurface plume, was Chairperson Vesely referring to unrefined petroleum product. Chairperson Vesely said he was referring to any type of plume. Mr. Whittenberg stated that he did not know this, but the applicant's representative is here and perhaps he could address this during the comment period. Member Coles interjected that having a heavy molecular weight compound, like oil, does not mean that TCE chlorinated solvents or reserve pits were not used. He stated that he has done a lot of work for Shell Oil in this very area, so he has real concerns about what lies beneath these clay tank bottoms. Dave Bartlett, representative for the Hellman Ranch, stated that the existing tank farm was constructed 50-60 years ago to essentially no standards. He said there is no containment wall around the site, no concrete surface, and no containment of any runoff from the property. He stated that the tank farm would be brought up to date and moved to a new location away from the Haynes Cooling Channel and the existing wetlands area, with the new location next to the existing facilities being more appropriate. He explained that the new facility would Page 3 of7 City o.fSeal Beach Archaeological AdvlsOIY Comnllttee Meeting Mmutes of Februmy 7, 2005 include a containment wall, new tanks requiring less maintenance, and all of the existing runoff would be confined within the containment wall, even in the event that all the tanks were to rupture. He indicated that all of this would go to another facility that first cleans the water and then injects it back into the formation, all in accordance with the Division Oil and Gas Standards. He noted that were a catastrophe to occur under the current condition of the tank farm, these precautions would not be in place. Mr. Bartlett then apologized to Chairperson Vesely and asked that he repeat his question. Chairperson Vesely stated that he is a member of the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB) at the Naval Weapons Station (NWS), which is a volunteer board. He said that the NWS is in a long- term process of bringing their soils and waters up to a standard that is acceptable, and over several years since their existence, they have had massive projects that have resulted in leaks in underground tanks and things of this nature, which they are attempting to deal with now. He commented that perhaps over time as old as these tanks are, there may have been seepage into the soil. He explained that the Navy is funding the project at the NWS, but if the soils or the water table here were contaminated, would this be remedied? Member Coles stated that he agreed with Chairperson Vesely's observation. He noted that this is highly resistive soil within a saline environment at the beach with 60-year old plumbing making the likelihood of a leak extremely high, whether it is an above-ground storage tank (AST) or an underground storage tank (UST). He indicated that there is concern with the existing facility when all the oil and gas have been extracted, and also that when that property is ultimately redeveloped, the City will be left with the existence of a significant plume, which there very likely will be. Mr. Bartlett stated that Hellman Ranch does take the environmental stewardship of the property very seriously, and they have actually identified where all of the sump pit locations are found throughout the property. He noted that they have quantified the amount of material in these sump pits and found that 98 percent of it is pure hydrocarbon. He explained that in the "old days" the bottom of the tanks were cleaned out with the material extracted then loaded onto a truck and taken to be dumped into a pit. He said that money has been set aside for cleaning up these pits at the appropriate time. He noted that the material is not refined product, nor is it carcinogenic, is easily quantifiable, and is easily disposed of. He indicated that the material is actually being disposed of through natural processes, because it is a natural occurring substance. Member Coles asked if Mr. Bartlett were suggesting that none of the tank bottoms contain heavy metals. Mr. Bartlett stated that he does not know the details. Member Coles stated that he has worked on a lot of tank bottoms and they do, in fact, contain heavy metals, that although not carcinogenic, are very deleterious to the environment. Member Fitzpatrick stated that in the last 5-10 years there has been a lot activity going on at this location. He said that a lot of material has been removed and one of the smaller tank farms was torn down and the containers removed. He explained that when pipes are pulled out of a ground well and then put back in, there is a lot of spillage at the surface of the soil, with no attempt to repair the soil until recent years, so he is ceI1ain that there has been a lot of spillage. He offered that this was just the technology of those days, and at that time no one knew or cared about the effects of spillage. He noted that he wished to go on record as stating that he has seen a lot of improvements down there. Page 4 of7 City of Seal Beach Archaeological AdvISOlY Committee Meeting Minutes of Februmy 7, 2005 Member Coles interjected that the main point is that this is not a refined compound, but crude oil, the majority of which will biodegrade. He stated that there are some heavy metals associated with tank bottoms, and he is also concerned with reserve pits, which were used when the wells were actually installed. He said that drilling rods were used to dig the wells with the drilled muds, which contained heavy metal, collected and placed into these reserve pits. He indicated that he also becomes concerned when chlorinated solvents are routinely used to degrease the agents. He noted that chlorinated solvents have a heavy molecular weight and move very readily into the subsurface. He stated that they are carcinogenic and if the City has the opportunity to demolish these facilities now, it would be a good thing to restore the soil. There were no further comments. Mr. Whittenberg noted that before this matter goes to City Council for their consideration, there would be a Responses to Comments document prepared which will include responses to all comments received on the IS/MND. lO. Receipt of Public COlmnents and Committee Review of "Research Design for Archaeological Investigation in Support of the Hellman Tank Farm Replacement Project, Seal Beach, California." Recommendation: Approve subject report, with any amendments determined appropriate. Approve staff-prepared file "Memorandum" and instruct staff to forward to the City Council and Planning Commission for information purposes. Mr. Whittenberg stated that this document was prepared as part of the compliance with the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) prepared for this project. He said that the Research Design is a follow-up to a walkover survey of the site done in 2004 by EDA W, and indicates that there are two recorded sites close to the proposed tank farm location and a number of shell scatter areas throughout the property that the evaluation indicates are within disturbed settings. He indicated that as part of coastal pennit compliance issues for the project and through City requirements, archaeological testing and monitoring must be done before the project begins and also during the construction phase. He indicated that the process for completing this process is described in this document. He noted that archaeologist for EDA W, Lorraine Willey, is present tonight to respond to any questions from the Committee. Committee Questions/Comments Member Dixon noted that there were a few typographical errors in the report for which he would provide corrections. He then referred to Page l3, second paragraph of the report and explained that at some point Stickel had done a flyover on the property and had noted some depressions that he indicated might possibly be house foundations. He said that he was not certain whether these findings were part of a formal report or correspondence. Ms. Willey stated that she could not confirm this, but that she is familiar with the flyover Stickel did on the Hellman Ranch propeIiy (now Heron Pointe Development) and these anomalies have been tested. She said that as for anomalies that are part of the tank farm, she is not aware of any information on this. She indicated that her memory of the flyover is that it was from Seal Beach Boulevard (SBB) Page 5 of7 City of Seal Beach Archaeological AdvIsory Committee Meetmg Ml/1utes of Februwy 7, 2005 involving just the current project area for Heron Pointe Development. Mr. Whittenberg confirmed that his recollection was that the anomalies were located around the existing oil wells or along SBB. Ms. Willey added that EDA W's testing did not indicate anything of archeological significance. Chairperson Vesely asked if all of the proposed pipelines are to be above ground and whether they would be steel or PVC. Mr. Bartlett stated that the pipelines would be PVC and would be subsurface. Mr. Whittenberg noted that the report indicates the pipeline replacements will be placed down about 3 feet into the soil. Member Dixon asked if the injection of salt water extracted from the oil would be done at the site or at another location. Mr. Bartlett stated that it would be injected on the site. Member Dixon asked if this were in process now. Mr. Bartlett confirmed that it is. Member Coles asked what the percent of oil versus seawater was. Mr. Bartlett stated that he did not know the exact percentage, but he would be happy to provide this information. He explained that the water that comes up from the formation is cleaned and gets re-injected back into the formation. Member Fitzpatrick asked if there were one or several oil producing horizons. Mr. Bartlett stated that he believes there are several. He said that the wells do extend down underneath the Naval Weapons Station, which he believes is a different horizon than some of the other wells located below the surface on the Hellman Ranch property. Member Dixon referred to the last page of the proposed Memorandum, Paragraph 2, Line 3 and recommended that the text read: " . . the document meets Research Design requirements fully and proposes appropriate procedures for further field and laboratory evaluation programs" Member Roy questioned whether the purpose of this document was to move it on for City Council review. Mr. Whittenberg stated that the Research Design document is a requirement under the City's Archaeological Element of the General Plan in order for the project to proceed, and part of that process is for the AAC to review the document and make recommendations as to whether or not it is satisfactory. He explained that this recommendation will then go to City Council and will also be provided to the California Coastal Conmlission (CCC) to allow this work to proceed as outlined in the Research Design document. MOTION by Coles; SECOND by Fitzpatrick to approve the Memorandum as amended and forward to City Council and Plmming Commission for information purposes. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 5-0-0 Vesely, Coles, Dixon, Roy, and Fitzpatrick None None Page 6 of7 City of Seal Beach Archaeological Advlsmy Comnlltlee Meetmg Mmutes ofF ebruGlY 7, 2005 VII. Committee Concerns None. VIII. Staff Concerns Mr. Whittenberg stated that the mitigation work is still ongoing on Heron Pointe. He said that in talking with Ms. Willey, EDA W believes that the work will be completed by the end of February or mid-March, depending upon the weather. He said that once the field investigation work is done, final grading can proceed and EDA W can begin the laboratory testing and preparation of the final report to be submitted to the CCC, The Native-American Heritage Commission, and several other organizations that have requested copies. IX. Adjournment MOTION by Hoy; SECOND by Coles to cancel the regular meeting of February l4, 2005 and adjourn to the regular meeting of April ll, 2005 at 5:30 p.m., or to a special meeting at a date determined appropriate. MOTION CARRIED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 5-0-0 Vesely, Coles, Dixon, Hoy, and Fitzpatrick None None Chairperson Vesely adjourned the meeting at 6:l0 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Carmen Alvarez, Executive Secretar Planning Department APPRO V AL The Archaeological Advisory Committee on June 13, 2005, approved the Meeting Minutes of the February 7, 2005. _' Page 7 of7