The home builder, Lennar Corp, has just purchased an ~$1 billion, contaminated property in Irvine, CA that was home to a military base. Lennar won the land via an online auction and reportedly intend to use it to build an urban park, retail centers and industrial parks.
The Marine Corps Air Station, El Toro, began operations during World War II and was closed in 1999… The land has been saddled with questions about contamination by chemicals including the cancer-causing solvent trichloroethylene, which the Marines used for decades to clean aircraft.Steve Scarborough, chief executive of Standard Pacific, the only other major bidder, noted concerns about whether the Navy would have enough money to complete its cleanup and whether more contamination could be discovered during development.
After doing a little digging, it appears the EPA thinks all is on target with the Navy’s clean-up schedule. One would hope they’d know. As an official NPL site, the El Toro Marine Corp Air Station (EPA ID# CA6170023208) is also under EPA watch. According to the EPA’s official site summary:
The El Toro Marine Corps Air Station covers approximately 4,700 acres. Commissioned in 1943, it supported the Fleet Marine Forces in the Pacific Ocean, serving as the major west coast jet fighter facility. The Station was decommissioned as an active base in 1999 under the Base Realignment and Closure Act. To date the golf course parcel has been transferred under the Department of the Interior’s Land for Parks program.A total of 25 potentially contaminated areas were identified on the Air Station, including four landfills suspected of containing both hazardous and solid waste, and other areas where polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), battery acids, leaded fuels, and other hazardous substances were suspected of being dumped or spilled. A Remedial Investigation conducted by El Toro identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs), primarily trichloroethene (TCE), in groundwater that migrated more than three miles off base. The primary source of the groundwater contamination was two large aircraft hangars. Approximately 1,100 acres of land are irrigated by wells located within three miles of the site; however, none of these wells are drinking water sources. Surface water flows into the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, located approximately eight miles from the base.
An investigation into the nature and extent of groundwater contamination was completed in 1997. The Navy concluded negotiations with the Orange County Water District and the Irvine Valley Ranch Water District on a joint desalter and VOC treatment project to address El Toro contamination. Final signatures on the Agreement by the Boards, the Navy, and the Department of Justice were obtained in July 2001. A remedy was proposed in November 2001 and a public meeting was held on November 14, 2001. The public comment period ended on December 7, 2001 with no significant comments received. The ROD was signed by all Parties on June 27, 2002. The Navy submitted their schedule for remedial design and remedial action in July 2002. The Navy is on schedule to complete remedial design in early 2005 and will begin remedial action construction in mid 2005.
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