CORRESPONDENCE_2007 (7/07 - 12/07)

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San Joaquin • HealthEnvironmental Department .11 East Main Street Website: www.sjgov.org/ehd Phone: (209) 468-3420 Fax: (209) 464-0138 August 27, 2007 Mr. Sayed Ali California Department of Transportation P.O. Office Box 2048 Stockton, CA 95201 Subject: Interstate Highway 580 at Corral Hollow Road, Tracy CA Dear Mr. Ali: DIRECTOR Donna Heran, REHS ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Laurie Cotulla, REHS PROGRAM COORDINATORS Carl Borgman, REHS Mike Huggins, REHS, RDI Margaret Lagorio, REHS Robert McClellon, REHS Jeff Carruesco, REHS, RDI Kasey Foley, REHS Previously undocumented landfill waste was recently discovered on the Interstate Highway 580 (I-580) easement at Corral Hollow Road. The waste was discovered during an ongoing investigation at the inactive Corral Hollow Landfill. The Corral Hollow Landfill was operated from the late 1950's to 1995 when it was closed. The City of Tracy and the County of San Joaquin jointly operated the Landfill until the county took over full operation in 1990. The City of Tracy operated a burn dumpsite at or near the Corral Hollow site prior to the county's involvement. Archived records indicate that the I-580 was built in 1966. Prior to that time, the Corral Hollow site and the City of Tracy site were on one large parcel. The highway crossed the parcel in a diagonal direction. The archived record reflects that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) was aware that they would encounter "unsuitable" materials in this area during construction of the highway. On August 16, 2007, at the request of Caltrans, the San Joaquin County Department of Public Works, Solid Waste Division (DPW-SWD) conducted a subsurface site investigation in the highway right-of-way adjacent to the landfill. The investigation revealed that waste was buried on the Caltrans property. The vertical extent of the waste was not determined. On the north end of the right of way, waste was first encountered at 8 feet. The waste extended beyond the reach of the backhoe equipment (13.5 feet in depth). The waste found in the excaved area did not appear to have been burned, and there was a certain amount of paper and plastic present. Waste found on the south end of the right of way appeared to be burn -ash and glass. This waste was found just below the surface of the ground. The investigation was curtailed due to the safety concerns of the onsite Caltrans representative. The horizontal extent of the waste was not defined in either location. At least one more investigation must be conducted in order to define the horizontal extent of the buried waste present on Caltrans property. As the property owner, Caltrans is responsible for investigating the full extent (vertical and horizontal )of the waste and mitigating potential impacts to ground water from the waste. The options for mitigation are: ® Clean closure of the waste areas. Clean closure would require the complete removal of the waste in accordance with a plan approved by the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB), California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) and the Environmental Health Department (EHD).