Current Activities

Removal Action Workplan and Soils Management Plan Implementation

The Removal Action Workplan to address three activities to remediate remaining soil contamination and carbon tetrachloride in groundwater in the Coastal Terrace Prairie area was approved by DTSC in July 2014. The approved Soils Management Plan for soil disturbance in the Research, Education, and Support areas of BGC is being implemented with the second revision completed in December 2019 as part of the Five-Year Review of the RAW.

The Draft Five-Year Review of the Removal Action Workplan was completed in December 2019, and is available on the publications page of this website. 

Schedule

Mercury Fulminate Area

From January 7-28, 2020, a hazardous materials contractor excavated approximately 2,000 cubic yards of mercury contaminated soil from the Mercury Fulminate Area. Following excavation, the site was backfilled with clean fill. See the January 2, 2020 news item for details, including a map of the excavation areas. The removal action was conducted in the winter months to take advantage of the low temperatures to minimize mercury vapors during excavation. A report on the remediation is expected to be complete in 2020.

Map of MFA Excavation Areas

Corporation Yard

Corporation Yard removal actions were completed October 10 through November 1, 2017 . A report on the remediation is expected to be completed in 2020.

Map of Corporation Yard Excavation Areas

Field Sampling Plan

Phase IV (FSP IV) 

The fourth phase of field sampling to investigate data gaps is complete. The four activities described in the FSP IV Work Plan have been completed. The final investigation report was approved by DTSC on April 22, 2016. PCBs found in the EPA Meadow North were further investigated in November 2017, and the results are provided in a June 2018 sampling summary. In August 2018, EPA approved a TSCA PCB risk-based removal action of the EPA North Meadow soil piles. The remvoal action is scheduled to start on October 19, 2020.

Phase V (FSP V)

The fifth phase of field sampling to investigate data gaps is complete.FSP V consists of field investigations of two portions of the southern end of the RFS at Western Stege Marsh and will be a multi-year effort. Implementation of the FSP V Work Plan began in January 2017 with the collection of sediment and porewater in the Old Marsh not previously subject to remediation. A final report on the results of the sampling was completed in October 2018. Investigation of the Western Transition Area and Bulb was completed in November 2019, outside of the the Ridgway's rail nesting season. An implementation report is expected in early 2020.

Biologically Active Permeable Barrier (BAPB)

Investigation ongoing 2014-2015

Field Investigation by environmental consultants for Zeneca at the Biologically Active Permeable Barrier (BAPB) west of the Connector Trail in Western Stege Marsh was completed in December 2014 with the fourth or four quarters of monitoring of October 2013 installed wells. For more information see the Work Notice and the workplan on Technical Documents page of this website. The September 19, 2014 Monitoring Well lnstallation Reportt and lnitial Groundwater Sampling Resufts, Vicinity of the Biologically Active Pemeable Barrier and approval January 15, 2015 DTSC approval letter present data collected prior to quarterly groundwater monitoring. A summary report on the well monitoring was completed by environmental consultants working for Zeneca in April 2015 and approved by DTSC on July 9, 2015.

Berkeley Global Campus at Richmond Bay Planning

As of October 2016, the redevelopment of the Richmond Field Station per the 2014 Richmond Bay Campus LRDP has been postponed while campus addresses other more urgent needs, such as financial sustainability and housing.  However, the longterm goal is to facilitate development as generally set forth in the 2014 LRDP.

Environmental planning documents approved by the UC Regents at the May 2014 meeting can be found at the Berkeley Global Campus site at: https://capitalstrategies.berkeley.edu/richmond-bay-campus-long-range-de...

Groundwater Field Sampling Workplan Implementation

In 2010 groundwater wells were installed in an array throughout the RFS as described in the April 2010 Phase 1 Groundwater Field Sampling Workplan. Ten rounds of groundwater sampling have been completed. The final report for the tenth round presents results of measurements and sampling completed in October 2017 and April 2018. The eleventh round of monitoring was conducted in August 2018 and April 2019.

Research Projects

December 2014

LBNL Fiber Optic Distributed Sensor Survey Project was installed. The project is scheduled to continue for six months and may be extended. For more information see the December 4, 2014 news report.

April 2016

B163 Phytoremediation Project. The Pallud Lab (College of Natural Resources, ESPM) is conducting a phytoremediation field research study using arsenic hyper-accumulating ferns to evaluate their capability of remediating metals from pyrite cinder containing soils. The project will be conducted at B163 and is estimated to continue for two years. For information see the Phytoremediation Project SMP Forms.