CORRESPONDENCE - 75C - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

The Bowery Mixed -Use Project CEQA Comment May 11, 2020 Page 19 been approved. Without valid mitigation, the Project's significant hazardous materials impact remains significant. 5. The EIR's conclusions related to hazardous impacts from contaminated groundwater are not supported by substantial evidence. The FIR must be revised to correct its inconsistent statements about the likelihood of encountering contaminated groundwater during Project construction. The FEIR states: [I]t is described on page 5.5-5 in Section 5.5, Geology and Soils, of the Draft FIR that based on onsite borings the depth of groundwater is in the range of 24 to 33 feet below ground surface (bgs). This depth of groundwater would not impact persons onsite during operation of the proposed mixed -uses. Also, the Draft FIR page 3-19, Section 3.0, Project Description, describes that excavation and grading during project construction would be a minimum of 5 feet below the bottom of the building foundations. As the depth of groundwater currently ranges between 24 to 33 feet, project excavation of approximately 5 feet below building foundations would not result in encountering groundwater. Thus, construction workers would also not be in contact with, and therefore impacted by, contaminated groundwater. Therefore, the potential risk to future receptors associated with groundwater contamination would be less than significant. FEIR, 2-8. But SWAPE points out that the assertion that groundwater is in the range of 24 to 33 feet deep contradicts the case closure summary attached to the SARWQCB No Further Action letter for the Project site, which states that groundwater is at depths of 5.67 to 13 feet deep (as excerpted in the below table). SWAPE, p. 3 (citing No Further Action Letter, attached hereto as Exhibit D). III. Release and Site Characterization Information cause and type of release: unknown Site characterization Moderate to low concentration of Date approved by agency complete? petroleum hydrocarbons were detected in the soil and groundwater to the south and southwest of the UST. The affected soil and groundwater was not defined to non -detect. Monitoring wells Yes Number 11 Proper screen Yes installed? interval? Deepest GW depth 13 feet Shallowest GW depth 5.151 feet Based on this data, SWAPE concludes that "if Project excavation is `a minimum of 5 feet below the bottom of building foundations' (FEIR, p. 2-8), groundwater is likely to be encountered if found at depths as shallow as 5.67 feet as stated by the SARWQCB in the table