Via Marina residents hear update on decades‑old TCE contamination; city and water board to expand investigation

Doug Talber, chair of the Via Marina Neighborhood Council, updated the Inter‑Neighborhood Council on July 9 about continuing concerns over trichloroethylene (TCE) vapor intrusion tied to historical contamination in the Via Marina area.

Talber said the contamination traces to a former aerospace site that used cleaning solvents, which leaked into groundwater and soil decades ago. "They they test ground water for what they call trichloroethylene and a bunch of other what they call volatile organic compounds," Talber said, explaining the testing regime for groundwater and soil vapor probes.

Talber identified two nearby soil‑gas probes on Fifth Street where concentrations have spiked well above screening levels used by regulators. He described a pattern of readings that fell after heavy rains—when probes became saturated—and then rose…