"MisInformation" about the Prosperity Cleaners Toxic Waste site from the Marin IJ, Marin County and the RWQCB from January 27, 2015

 

The people of Marin are regularly subjected to heavily biased reporting like this one in the IJ on January 27, 2015..

Although the online version was toned down a bit,  this printed edition is well literally, a bold faced LIE.  The toxic waste was a problem then as it is now.

I wrote an angry letter to the Marin IJ asking them to correct the many errors but they ignored the truth and did not issue a retraction.  

This is very troubling for our community.  Currently, 300 residents are at risk for toxic contamination as proven in the state testing data of Prosperity Cleaner.  To give the public a false sense of safety is criminal neglect of journalistic ethics.  

If the writer independently verified the facts found at Geotracker  he would have found out that the waste had not been remediated since 2011 and all testing shows toxic levels as far out as 4/10 mile.  We have not even touched the edge of the plume yet.

But especially maddening was the comments by the Community Development Department's Tom Lai who is quoted:

"Tom Lai, assistant community development director, said, “This is the property owner’s consultant reporting to the regional water board. I am certainly not qualified to review the adequacy of the report.

“But just reading the conclusion,” Lai said, “I’m relieved they did not find significant off-site migration of the chemicals to warrant additional groundwater sampling.”

Lai added, however, “This report summarizes the results of the sampling on Silveira. It doesn’t speak to what is on the Marinwood Plaza property.”

This was provably false from the test results at the time of this article.  The writer took the political spin "lock, stock and barrel".

Furthermore, the writer makes no mention of the Toxic Soil Vapors that were found at the eastern edge of the property that indicates a possible problem within Casa Marinwood.

It is damned irresponsible!  People's lives are at stake. Pregnant women and small children are especially vulnerable.  Who ARE these people to treat the environment and public health with such callous disregard!?

The Marin IJ has been covering the issue more responsibly recently but we must trust the data not the political spin.

 

Pregnant women and children are especially vulnerable to toxins in the environment.

Prosperity Cleaners Toxic Waste Clean up meeting November 16, 2015

The meeting is approximately 1:26 minutes

Key points of the evening.

1.) Recent testing has revealed toxic plume is at least 50% larger than the April 2015 map and info sheet.
2.) Testing for toxic soil vapors has begun and more testing will be done inside of Casa Marinwood. Rains may make testing difficult but they hope to complete by Dec 31, 2015
3.) While the substance is dangerous, it also can be treated effectively.
4.) PCE toxic waste (liquid) generally travels in the downgradient towards the Bay. Soil vapors spread in all directiions where there is permable soil, especially around utility trenches. This is the concern at Casa Marinwood.
5.) The top officials at the RWQCB attended and have pledged speedy resolution to the problem. Marinwood Plaza, LLC must submit a plan by Jan 1, 2016.
6.) Supervisor Damon Connolly has provided wonderful community leadership on this issue and will continue to watch over the process.
7.) Community involvement is key to making this happen.

8.) Of special note, the RWQCB agreed to be available to make corrections to the January 27, 2015 Marin IJ article "Plaza Pollution Analysis: All's Fine ": which inaccurately implied there is no further risk to the community.  The risk is much greater than known at the time and a cause of immediate concern.

Testimony to the Regional Water Quality Control Board about Prosperity Cleaners Toxic Waste Site. Sept 9, 2015

Five concerned citizens from Marinwood ask for immediate remediation measures at Prosperity Cleaners Toxic Waste site.  No remediation has been done since 2011 according to public records.  The Regional Water Quality Control Board has allowed the discharger to test instead of treat the source contamination. Now the toxic plume has extended under the 101 Freeway in Marinwood and extends 4/10 of a mile East.  The toxic problem is huge yet the board executive Bruce Wolff will not order immediate remediation.  There has been no remediation since August 2011

Casa Marinwood Residents are Angry over the FOUR YEAR DELAY to CLEAN TOXIC WASTE.

From the August 25. 2015 letter to the editor in the Marin IJ HERE

Clean up toxic waste near Marinwood housing

In the Aug 15 article, “Marinwood residents demand cleanup of dry cleaner chemicals,” Stephen Hill, toxics cleanup division chief at the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, is quoted as saying, “All test results are showing below regulatory levels and there is no indication that soil vapor has reached Casa Marinwood residents.”

This statement is not accurate, according to his own test results.

The test well, SV-26, has a soil vapor reading for PCE of 580 ug/m3, which is three times the allowable limit for residential areas.

The SV-26 location is within 100 feet of a residential area.

I have provided links to the map and testing data and the health effects of soil vapor. The residents here are very concerned that the plume may have moved into Casa Marinwood, especially since we have had a cancer cluster of six cases.

Can you ever remember an oil company being allowed to “study the problem for four years before cleaning up an oil spill?”

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We must protect the environment and the people. Clean up Marinwood Plaza now.

— Elizabeth Geler, San Rafael

Sign the Petition HERE

What Homeowners Need to Know About Vapor Intrusion - An infographic by the team at EDR