• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Valley Citizen

Nature, Environment, History & Politics

The Valley Citizen

  • Arts
  • Education
  • Environment
  • History
  • Nature
  • Politics
  • Wit
  • About
  • RSS Icon

Bruce Frohman on Caltrans' Failure to Maintain Modesto Toxic Waste Site

March 11, 2012 By Eric Caine 2 Comments

Toxic Dirt? Yes.

Several months ago, former Modesto City Councilman Bruce Frohman became concerned about toxic waste piles in west Modesto. Frohman’s persistent questioning of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control and Caltrans revealed Caltrans has failed to properly maintain the site. Here is Bruce Frohman’s insider report.

A toxic waste site exists within the right of way of the future State Route 132 freeway. The site is located just south of Kansas Avenue, in three separate piles between Emerald Avenue on the west and an area immediately adjacent to the east side of freeway 99.

The toxic waste site was created in the 1960’s when freeway 99 was built. Soil was moved from the bottom of FMC Corporation’s settling ponds and deposited within the right of way to form the base for a future elevated 132 freeway.

The three separate piles hold a total of approximately 120,000 cubic yards of toxic soil, containing Barium and Strontium Sulfate ores, and other minerals. The soil has been in that location, exposed to the weather, for about 50 years.

Upon learning in December 2011 of the existence of the toxic soil piles, this writer started a campaign to start prompt remediation of the site to protect public health.

Previously, on December 17, 2009, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) had notified Caltrans via letter that the toxic soil site would not pose a hazard to the public IF the site were maintained in a specifically prescribed manner. Based on that letter, Caltrans officials have offered public assurances that the site is totally safe on several different occasions.

This writer’s multiple conversations with employees of the DTSC seemed to contradict the assurances of Caltrans officials. DTSC comments such as, “The soil is not safe to move” and, “I worry about children playing in the soil, “created doubts as to whether the site has been sufficiently supervised.

On February 15, 2012, the Stanislaus Council of Governments (STANCOG) reached an agreement with Caltrans and the DTSC to do a study to determine whether any environmental damage has been done and what clean-up will be needed. Although $250,000 will be needed to fund the study, as of this writing in March 2012, the funding source for implementation of the study has not been secured. Mr. Carlos Yamzon of STANCOG stated in an email that funding will be secured to do the study.

On March 1, 2012, DTSC sent Caltrans a letter that provided explicit instructions to Cal Trans on how to maintain and monitor the 132 freeway toxic waste site. The letter was the result of an onsite physical inspection conducted in February 2012 by the DTSC. The inspection found deficiencies in the supervision of the site by Cal Trans.

A DTSC employee told this writer that the site might not be safe because Caltrans had failed to maintain the standards for site supervision as outlined in the previous letter of December 17, 2009. Specifically, Caltrans failed to maintain fences around the site to keep out unauthorized personnel. A mattress used by a homeless person was found within the area that was supposed to have been fenced off. To keep dust from blowing off the site, a cover of vegetation was to have been maintained. DTSC found the ground cover inadequate. Trails were found crossing the toxic waste site. Apparently, some digging in the dirt by trespassers also took place.

Nearby neighborhood eyewitnesses have reported that a homeless person has been living on the site and that erosion rivulets exist in the dirt piles. The rivulets are especially troubling as it could be an indicator of off-site runoff of toxic material. There is also concern of groundwater contamination.

Now that the public is watching, the community should expect that the toxic waste site will receive the necessary attention from Caltrans to make sure it is safe. The study commissioned by STANCOG is expected to be completed by March 2013. Hopefully, shortly after that date, action will be taken to either cap the site in concrete or remove the toxic soil and take any other measures to do a thorough clean up.

Conflicting reports exist regarding whether the toxic soil can be removed to a toxic waste dump site. Caltrans and DTSC have said to this writer that the soil should not be moved.

A concrete cap to permanently seal the soil would cost an estimated $2 million. Another report circulating is that all of the soil can be removed for about $6 million. It is not clear whether the public will be provided with an option when the toxic waste site report is released.

The community is at least a year away from seeing the problem of the toxic waste site resolved. The first steps have been taken in a process which may take years to complete.

 

Filed Under: Environment Tagged With: Modesto toxic waste

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Doug Hardie says

    March 13, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    Should FMC be picking up the tab for this. DH

    Reply
  2. Wayne Michaels says

    March 16, 2012 at 5:16 am

    They need to just cap the sites right away. Transporting the toxins may be the worst of the ways to deal with the toxins. If it looked like a dirt pile then many children for decades have been playing in the toxic dirt or riding bikes and walking over them. They don’t need to wait another year they need to do this right away using the emergency funds available.

    The wind more than likely carried the toxic sand over the whole neighborhoods.

    Laziness,inept people in charge, they were only thinking about the paycheck at the 9 to5 union job with fat pensions.

    How many people have gotten sick because of this mismanagement?

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Note: Some comments may be held for moderation.

Primary Sidebar

Off The Wire

So What if Romney Doesn?t Solve the ?Root Causes? of Poverty?
So What if Romney Doesn’t Solve the Root Causes of Poverty?
We handle problems all the time without dealing with their root causes.
nymag.com
The Facts of Life - The Bulwark
The Facts of Life – The Bulwark
My suggestion last week that perhaps the best way some of us who’ve been conservatives can now help the country is to help the Biden administration succeed, and help the Democratic party move to the center, seems to have stirred up a minor tempest in the conservative teapot. I asked whether one shouldn’t consider allying…
thebulwark.com
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
WSJ News Exclusive | Texas Electric Bills Were $28 Billion Higher Under Deregulation
Texas’s deregulated electricity market left millions in the dark last week. For the past 20 years, its consumers have paid more for their electricity than state residents who are served by traditional utilities, a WSJ investigation found.
www.wsj.com
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
The making of Madison Cawthorn: How falsehoods helped propel the career of a new pro-Trump star of the far right
Cawthorn has emerged as one of the most visible figures among newly arrived House Republicans, who have promoted baseless assertions and pushed a radicalized ideology that has become a driving force in the GOP.
www.washingtonpost.com
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
Los Angeles Just Opened a Tiny Home Village for the Homeless
The colorful community was built in just 13 weeks!
www.housebeautiful.com
California's coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: 'The devil is already here'
California’s coronavirus strain looks increasingly dangerous: ‘The devil is already here’
California’s coronavirus strain is more transmissible than its predecessors, is more resistant to vaccines and may cause more severe cases of COVID-19.
www.latimes.com
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden's Sweeping COVID Package
More Than 150 Biz Leaders Endorse Biden’s Sweeping COVID Package
More than 150 business leaders from various industries have signed a letter backing President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief…
talkingpointsmemo.com
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP's voters
Exclusive: Defeated and impeached, Trump still commands the loyalty of the GOP’s voters
www.usatoday.com
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
The Christian Prophets Who Say Trump Is Coming Again
In the growing community of charismatic Christian prophecy, faith in Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House is a new dividing line.
www.politico.com
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
AOC raises $1 million in Texas relief, heading to Houston as Ted Cruz douses Cancun flames
The New York congresswoman said she would travel to Houston to highlight the problems faced by Texans hit by power outages and freezing weather.
www.newsweek.com
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America
How the right-wing talk radio icon corrupted the Republican Party, spread hate, racism, and lies, and laid the groundwork for Trumpism
www.rollingstone.com
?I Don?t Trust the People Above Me?: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection
“I Don’t Trust the People Above Me”: Riot Squad Cops Open Up About Disastrous Response to Capitol Insurrection
Interviews with 19 current and former officers show how failures of leadership and communication put hundreds of Capitol cops at risk and allowed rioters to get dangerously close to members of Congress.
www.propublica.org

Find us on Facebook

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Footer

The Valley Citizen
PO Box 156
Downtown Bear Postal
1509 K Street
Modesto, CA 95354

Email us at:
thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Subscribe for Free

* indicates required

Search

• Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2021 The Valley Citizen

Dedicated to the memory of John Michael Flint. Contact us at thevalleycitizen@sbcglobal.net

Editor and publisher: Eric Caine

Website customization and maintenance by Susan Henley Design