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1.0 INTRODUCTION The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region IX, under the authority of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA) and the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act of 1986 (SARA), has tasked Bechtel Environmental, Inc. (BET) to conduct a preliminary assessment (PA) of the California Cedar Products Company (Cal Cedar) site in Stockton, San Joaquin County, Calif. The purpose of the PA is to review existing information on the site and its environs to assess the threat(s), if any, posed to public health, welfare, or the environment and to determine if further investigation under CERCLA/SARA is warranted. The scope of the PA includes the review of information available from federal, state, and local agencies and performance of an onsite reconnaissance visit. Using these sources of existing information, the site is then evaluated using EPA's Hazard Ranking System (HRS) criteria to assess the relative threat associated with actual or potential releases of hazardous substances at the site. The HRS has been adopted by the EPA to help set priorities for further evaluation and eventual remedial action at hazardous waste sites. The HRS is the primary method of determining a site's eligibility for placement on the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL identifies sites at which the EPA may conduct remedial response actions. This report summarizes the findings of these preliminary investigative activities. The site was identified as a potential hazardous waste site and entered into the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Information System (CERCLIS) on August 16, 1991 (CAD 009157876) (6). The site was entered into CERCLIS as the result of an industry-based site discovery program conducted by the EPA Site Assessment Program. 1.1 APPARENT PROBLEM The apparent problem at the site is: • On January 20, 1989, the City of Stockton, Municipal Utilities Department (MUD), Environmental Control Section, found damage to a city storm sewer line on Cal Cedar's property. There were two areas on site where industrial wastewater discharged into the storm sewer. One waste stream appeared to be leaking from the kilns to a storm drain. The other waste stream came from a solid waste container of wet ash from the air scrubber near a storm drain. Samples of wastewater collected by MUD from the storm sump near the kilns and from the waste stream from the container exhibited a pH of 12.2 and 12.8, respectively. (2, 3) 2.0 SITE DESCRIPTION 2.1 Location The Cal Cedar site is located at 1340 W. Washington Street, Stockton, Calif. The geographic coordinates of the site are 3T 56' 46.0" N latitude and 121° 18' 44.5" W longitude (Township 1 PA California Cedar Products-W (F) • 5/93 1 Printed on 50% recycled paper. C9