Signs of progress on the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) outpatient clinic and cemetery project recently appeared on its Alameda Point property. Steel drums marked “Non-Hazardous Waste—Pending Analysis” were seen on the old airfield. An inquiry to the City revealed that the VA is undertaking extensive soil and groundwater testing, primarily to determine whether the “forever chemical group” called PFAS is present before they start digging. Click to view VA handout describing the project [PDF].
The VA became concerned about PFAS on its property in 2022, when the Navy was preparing plans to deal with PFAS at Alameda Point. Work on the new VA wetlands—the VA’s only construction work underway so far—came to a halt. The “VA, based on recent regulatory developments by EPA regarding PFAS, is evaluating the next steps at Alameda, to include the wetland mitigation actions,” said VA Sierra Pacific Network Chief Communications Manager Armenthis Lester said on November 29, 2022.
On February 28, 2024, the VA was issued a Marsh Crust Permit [PDF] from the City to bore into the ground at 91 locations on both VA and City property. The permit is required because of the layer of industrial petroleum and coal waste discharged into the offshore marsh area in the late 1800s and early 1900s and now covered over. Hence the name Marsh Crust. An ordinance requires special handling and notification.
The VA “is aware of the health and environmental concerns of PFAS at Alameda Point and is currently awaiting the results of a site study before proceeding with development,” Lester said on May 23, 2024. “These results will determine the appropriate construction waste management requirements to ensure regulatory compliance and identify any additional site mitigation potentially required to address health or environmental risks.”
The test samples were taken from all of the areas where the VA will be doing work. Those areas include the outpatient clinic, columbarium cemetery, and wetland. The VA also took samples from under City streets leading to their property because the VA is responsible for providing oversized underground utilities on City streets leading to the VA property that will also allow the City to eventually utilize those lines. The upgrade on City streets is part of the deal the City negotiated with the VA back in 2013 [PDF] in exchange for the City giving up 74 acres of land to the VA for their project in the area where the Antiques Faire is held.
While the VA’s money is funding the project, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Sacramento District is managing the project. The Corps took over construction management of large VA projects, including at Alameda Point, after Congress became concerned about massive cost overruns at VA projects such as the hospital under construction in Aurora, Colorado in 2015. Ironically, the projected cost for the VA project when it first appeared in the federal budget in 2011 was $208 million. Today the cost is pegged at $395 million, all of which has been funded by Congress.
USACE is responsible for everything from dams, levees, and reservoirs to military bases to ocean terminal construction, and now VA projects. At a job fair in Sacramento for contractors held in March [PDF], called the Sacramento District Business Opportunities Open House, the Alameda Point VA Project was listed as one of three “Mega Projects.” Contractors could sign up to receive requests for bids.
The VA’s soil and groundwater testing includes 58 shallow soil and groundwater boring samples located within VA property; five shallow soil and groundwater boring samples located within proposed wetlands; 17 shallow soil and groundwater boring samples located within the roadways; 10 deep soil and groundwater boring samples; and one aquifer test location, along with drilling six observation wells.
Results from the PFAS testing are expected later this year.
Contributing writer Richard Bangert posts stories and photos about environmental issues on his blog Alameda Point Environmental Report. His writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Richard-Bangert.
