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Extended Site Characterization Report: 7500 West Eleventh Street, Tracy, CA. Page 9 5.0 EXTENSION OF SITE CHARACTERIZATION The work performed to conduct the extended site characterization program is described =� below. All of the work was performed under the direction of the California-licensed geotechnical engineer in responsible charge of the project and in compliance with the project-specific health and safety plan that had been prepared by SJC (The San Joaquin Company Inc. 2001a). Note: Ms. Rebecca Setliff was present on the site to represent the SJCEHD at various ' times during the implementation of the extended site characterization program, including periods when subsurface borings were drilled, groundwater-quality monitoring wells 1.,-- were installed, when temporary borings were closed by grouting, and when soil and groundwater samples were recovered. f._ 5.1 Site Plan A site characterization program that includes an investigation of the extent to which ! groundwater has been affected by releases of fuel hydrocarbons requires an accurate i-: survey of the site and surrounding areas. The positions of exploratory borings, groundwater-quality monitoring wells and sites at which fuel was released into the subsurface must be accurately plotted to permit reliable computation of water table 7J contours, groundwater gradients, directions of groundwater flow and the lateral and down-gradient limits of the plume of affected groundwater. To comply with those engineering requirements, the initial site characterization work plan prepared by SJC provided for a survey of the subject property and adjacent areas by a surveyor's field party lead by aCalifornia-licensed professional surveyor using modern, cost-effective surveying technologies (The San Joaquin Company 1999). However, the USTCF denied funding for that work and stated that `only 8 hours of assistant engineer time is determined necessary" for the survey work, which, at that time, involved some 15.5 acres of developed land (California Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund 2000b, Fua 2000). Noting that even an approximate survey using a tape to locate features by baseline and offset techniques requires a minimum of two persons — one to control each end of the li. tape — SJC is concerned that such direction of the engineering work by unlicensed USTCF staff appears to amount to the unlicensed practice of professional engineering, which is prohibited by the Professional Engineers and Surveyors Act. This concern is magnified by the USTCF's and the SJCEHD's initial refusal to permit essential site characterization work to the east of Chrisman Road and north of West Eleventh Street ;- and the directive, discussed in Section 2.0, to re-site certain proposed groundwater- quality monitoring wells from their planned locations - locations that had been selected after a careful analysis of the hydrogeology and geochemistry of the site by a licensed a and highly experienced geotechnical engineer. Working under the restrictions imposed by the USTCF, SJC has produced the site plan of !- sic