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U.S. EPA begins soil cleanup at Valley Wood Superfund site

Release Date: 8/26/2004
Contact Information: Laura Gentile, 415/947-4227

SAN FRANCISCO -- This week U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials started overseeing the cleanup of contaminated soil at the Valley Wood Preserving Superfund site in Turlock, Calif.

The former wood-treating facility is a Superfund site on the EPA's national priorities list. The NPL is the EPA's list of hazardous waste sites potentially posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and environment.

"These soil cleanup activities will allow for future reuse of the site," said Keith Takata, the EPA's Superfund division director for the Pacific Southwest region. "The removal of contaminated soil will also enhance the ongoing groundwater cleanup by eliminating the source of contamination."

Contractors for Valley Wood Preserving will excavate soil contaminated with arsenic and hexavalent chromium and replace it with clean soil that meets federal cleanup standards. Excavated soil will be trucked to the Kettleman Hills hazardous waste landfill for disposal. The project should be completed within four to six weeks.

Approximately 175-200 truck-loads of contaminated soil, asphalt, and concrete will be hauled from the site from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily over the course of the next two or three weeks. The trucks carrying contaminated soil will exit the site onto Golden State Boulevard and travel to Highway 99 to 152 West to I-5 South to Kettleman Hills Landfill.

In addition to increased traffic, area residents and businesses should expect increased noise from heavy equipment and trucks. Air monitoring will be conducted throughout the work period, and soil will be watered to control dust from the site.

The Valley Wood Preserving site is located at 2237 South Golden State Boulevard in Turlock, California. The facility was in operation from 1973 until 1979 and used both arsenic and chromium in its wood-treating operations.

For more information about this site go to: https://www.epa.gov/region09/waste/sfund/index.html and click on Site Overviews and Information, then scroll through the list to Valley Wood Preserving.