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well data collected by Opal Cliffs in 1995 showed significant detections of gasoline constituents <br /> in groundwater wells upgradient of the Chevron site but south and southwest of Opal Cliffs. <br /> Water samples collected that year from the basement sump on the former Chevron site showed <br /> contaminant levels at very low to non-detect values.' In 1998, by contrast, water samples <br /> collected when the sump flooded showed concentrations of TPH-g and BTEX from 1,000 to <br /> 10,000 times greater than the values detected three years earlier.' The low concentrations of <br /> BTEX in the sump water in 1995, followed by high concentrations in 1998, without any new <br /> source at the former Chevron site, provide direct evidence that gasoline and groundwater with <br /> high concentrations of gasoline constituents have migrated from the Opal Cliffs site onto <br /> Chevron's site. The significant increase in contaminant levels from 1995 to 1998 is much more <br /> consistent with operation of the sump pump drawing in contaminants from the Opal Cliffs plume <br /> than from lingering contamination at the Chevron site, which had not operated for more than <br /> twenty-five years. <br /> The subsequent investigation conducted by Chevron from 1998 to 2000 consisted <br /> of eleven soil borings dispersed across an area of about 9,600 square feet. The data showed only <br /> highly degraded and weathered diesel-range hydrocarbons in shallow soil samples. At depths of <br /> 10 feet below ground surface (bgs) and greater,the volatile hydrocarbon content reported for soil <br /> samples reflects a relatively fresh gasoline constituent profile inconsistent with a pre-1972 <br /> release. Gasoline constituents were detected in groundwater samples obtained from each of the <br /> soil borings, including very high concentrations from three borings extending south from an <br /> upgradient Opal Cliffs monitoring well, indicating the presence of separate-phase gasoline <br /> moving with groundwater. These data suggest that a past release of petroleum hydrocarbons may <br /> have occurred at the former Chevron site but that any such release does not contribute to the need <br /> for cleanup at the site. <br /> Chevron also points to testimony of personal observations of soil conditions from <br /> persons involved with excavations at the former Chevron site. The former property owner has <br /> stated that the soil beneath the USTs was"clean" when the tanks were removed in 1973. The <br /> ' BTEX concentrations were 2.9 parts per billion(ppb),0.4 ppb,0.7 ppb and 1.2 ppb,respectively. TPH-g was <br /> non-detect,or less than 50 ppb. <br /> ' BTEX concentrations were 2,500 ppb, 1,400 ppb,670 ppb,and 2,400 ppb. TPH-g was measured at 16,000 ppb. <br /> 5. <br />