![]() Navy’s defense of the change Site 1 and Site 32 are annotated in the upper lefthand corner. Thus, the Navy decided the on-site wetland plan had become financially infeasible. The Navy and regulatory agencies said that this new scanning standard would raise the cost for the entire cleanup project from $25 million to $46 million if the existing wetlands were expanded as originally planned. The 15 acres were to be excavated to three feet, with clean imported soil used to create new wetlands at the original elevation. ![]() Since the Navy and other regulators need unanimous consent on cleanup plans, Mishra’s binding advisory role to DTSC essentially gave him veto power, so he was able to compel the Navy to agree to a special and more costly radiological scanning standard for the wetlands that would’ve been expanded from 10 acres to 15 acres. In a response to our inquiry about the rationale for eliminating the wetland plan, the Navy and three regulatory agencies-the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Department of Toxics Substances Control (DTSC), and Regional Water Quality Control Board-disputed Mishra’s claim, stating, “There are no ARARs, regulations, or policy guidance that state a wetland is unacceptable.”īut that was not the end of the matter. Wetland destruction will cost millions Soil being imported to Site 32 on August 2, 2019, for the remediation plan to upgrade the site for open space recreational use. ![]() This assertion turned out to be not true. Rajiv Mishra, the supervising health physicist in the California Department of Public Health – Radiologic Health Branch (CDPH-RHB) told the Navy and other regulators during a July 2020 meeting that a wetland above any area that might contain radiological material is not allowed. Partial view of Site 32 wetlands in March 2019. The controversy centers on the health risk that radium-226 luminescent paint waste artifacts may or may not pose to park visitors. He did so as work was already underway, and over 7,000 truckloads of soil had been delivered to upgrade the site. Unexpectedly, however, and behind closed doors, a single advisory staff member at a state agency halted the approved wetland expansion plan. Most Alamedans have read about the Navy’s plan for upgrading and expanding wetlands at Alameda Point where a regional park is planned. ![]() Vital Alameda Point wetlands are slated for costly and unnecessary destruction without scientific support. ![]()
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