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Neighboring neighborhoods press state agencies for more consistent indoor testing over suspected solvent plume
Summary
A Via Marina neighborhood representative described long-running soil vapor testing near Seaview Estates and urged state agencies to pursue indoor air testing after periodic high readings for tetrachloroethylene (TCE) near wells associated with a former industrial site, citing variability in results tied to weather and testing methods.
Doug Topper, Via Marina neighborhood representative, told the INCO general membership he and adjacent neighborhoods are pressing state agencies and the responsible party to expand and update testing for soil-vapor intrusion tied to contamination from a former industrial site.
Topper said an historical contamination plume, linked to the former Newmont ABEX site, has produced intermittent elevated readings for tetrachloroethylene (TCE) in groundwater and soil-vapor tests. He described testing results as inconsistent: sampling sometimes shows “non-detect” after heavy rain when test wells were submerged, and higher readings at other times, which he and a neighbor with a Ph.D. in geochemistry attribute to barometric pressure changes that drive vapor intrusion.
“We've been doing all these studies twice a year. Sometimes they get a reading, sometimes they don't,” Topper said, and he urged agencies to carry out indoor testing during conditions when vapor intrusion is most likely. He said some wells have shown levels “well above screening levels” and that one well near Fifth Street had particularly high readings.
Topper said residents’ primary concern is the adequacy of current sampling methods and the timing of tests. He described the existing practice as reliance on short-term “sniffer” samples and called for more targeted indoor monitoring and testing protocols timed to expected pressure drops to capture worst-case vapor intrusion events.
Topper said the neighborhood has used the GeoTracker database to review historical reports but that the volume and technical nature of documents (each report can be hundreds of pages) complicate public understanding. He said the testing contractor is paid by the responsible party (Newmont ABEX) and expressed residents’ desire for updated testing standards and greater transparency.
Topper said he plans to prepare a PowerPoint and to seek further engagement from the State Water Quality Board (referred to in the meeting as the water-quality board) and other regulators to review testing frequency, methods and whether additional indoor testing is warranted for homes in the affected area.
