Laserfiche WebLink
Lee Higgins -2 - 2 December 2010 <br /> Former Vernalis Pump Station <br /> Vernalis, San Joaquin and Stanislaus Counties <br /> agricultural properties. Under regulatory oversight by Central Valley Water Board staff, <br /> numerous soil and groundwater investigations were conducted on the Vernalis Offsite <br /> (downgradient) properties. <br /> The investigations determined that the offsite conditions had been adequately addressed <br /> regarding the lateral extent of crude oil affected soil and groundwater. Central Valley Water <br /> Board staff notified Chevron in an 8 June 2010 letter that the Vernalis Offsite case could be <br /> closed and a No Further Action Required determination was provided. <br /> According to SAIC's Screening Evaluation documentation: <br /> • Chemicals of potential concern (COPCs) are analytes detected in at least one soil <br /> sample between 0 and 10 feet below ground surface (bgs). Low levels of toluene, <br /> ethylbenzene, and xylenes, and certain PAHs are considered COPCs and were <br /> evaluated quantitatively for the Screening Evaluation. Benzene and the PAHs <br /> acenaphthylene and anthracene were not detected in any soil samples and are not <br /> considered COPCs. Sixty-seven soil samples from 33 borings were collected and <br /> evaluated for the Screening Evaluation. <br /> • Site characterization data describes the exposure point concentrations (EPCs) that <br /> were used to calculate the upper confidence limit (UCL) for the mean soil concentration <br /> of each COPC. If a high number of non-detect (ND) results occur, it may not be <br /> possible to calculate a UCL. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (US <br /> EPA) recommends that if this condition occurs, to use the sample median as the EPC. <br /> • Potential residential exposure to chemicals in onsite soils were estimated for oral, <br /> dermal, and inhalation routes following algorithms in the California Department of Toxic <br /> Substances Control (DTSC) Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) Guidance <br /> Manual. The algorithms incorporate health protective default exposure parameters <br /> promulgated by DTSC and US EPA that represent reasonable maximum exposure for <br /> health hazards and health risks. Cancer risks and non-cancer health hazards were <br /> estimated using PEA Guidance Manual equations. <br /> • An incremental lifetime cancer risk of 1 E-06 (i.e., 1 in 1 million), in accordance with the <br /> National Contingency Plan is used as a point of departure. A cancer risk equal to or <br /> below this threshold is considered to be insignificant. For non-cancer hazard indices, a <br /> hazard index of 1 or less is considered an acceptable health hazard level; the non- <br /> cancer hazard index was determined to be 3E-03. If regulatory criteria are exceeded <br /> based on the findings, the Screening Evaluation identifies the chemical and exposure <br /> pathways contributing to the elevated risks or hazards. The risks can be more precisely <br /> assessed in a site-specific refined health risk assessment, if warranted. <br /> • Since soil and groundwater were delineated, and the characterization dataset <br /> adequately describes Site conditions, EPCs were calculated as the UCL of the mean <br /> soil concentration for each COPC. <br />