Runkle Canyon Geocon I & Limited Sampling – 9/06/05
(Click here to see Geocon report on the DTSC website)
P. 5/150: “Analytical results of surface water samples collected from East and West Seeps in Fishtail Area that are not produced in a report. Samples were collected by Miller Brooks on April 5, 2005.”
P. 7/150: “Perchlorate was detected at a concentration of 0.33 micrograms per liter (μg/l) in a duplicate sample during the first sampling event. According to the laboratory this reported concentration should be considered suspect based on retention time drift and potential co-elution of an interfering constituent. None of the other samples or duplicate samples were reported to contain perchlorate.”
That equals 330 ppb in groundwater. Ahmanson was 28 ppb therefore Runkle is over 11 times more.
According to OEHHA at http://www.oehha.org/public_info/facts/perchloratefacts.html the Public Health Goal is 6 ppb in drinking water.
Runkle Canyon groundwater has tested as high as 55 times the Public Health Goal for perchlorate.
P. 7/150: “Historic pumping depressions at Rocketdyne have limited the movement of degraded groundwater beneath the property and have essentially confined the extent of known groundwater contamination to the area beneath the facility. Offsite migration of degraded groundwater has been identified in isolated areas along the northwest and eastern property boundaries. The perchlorate plume reportedly extends offsite of the facility to the east and southeast (southeast of the Runkle Site). The TCE in groundwater is reportedly present in several well-defined plumes that remain predominately beneath the Rocketdyne facility with a limited area offsite to the north of the western end of the property (west of the Runkle Site).”
The preceding contradicts itself on one of the biggest points – offsite migration of degraded groundwater. Which is it? If the lab doesn’t know, or does and decides to mischaracterize the situation even while contracting itself, the lab’s veracity is questionable.
P. 7/150: “Miller Brooks collected soil samples along the western border of the Site, adjacent to the Rocketdyne facility. Low concentrations of toluene, xylene, mercury, and dioxin were reported in several of the samples collected. The reported concentrations on these constituents were all below their respective PRGs.”
PP. 7-8/150: “Surface water and groundwater on the Runkle Canyon Site have been tested to evaluate the presence of constituents of concern potentially originating from the Rocketdyne facility. Samples have been collected from the on site stream and from a number of springs present on site. Water samples have been analyzed for TPH, VOCs, SVOCs, PCBs, perchlorate, NDMA, and metals. Perchlorate was reported in a duplicate groundwater sample as described above. NDMA was reported in one groundwater sample collected from an onsite monitoring well in July 2004, however the results should be considered suspect due to laboratory blank contamination. Subsequent groundwater samples collected from this well did not contain reportable concentrations of NDMA. No other reportable concentrations of other constituents were found in any of the water samples collected at the site with the exception of metals at concentrations typically found in groundwater.”
While quick to discount positive results for contaminants, Geocon isn’t as careful with its characterization of contaminants onsite. “Perchlorate was reported in a duplicate sample above” does not take into account several detections of it. The last sentence is false in two ways: TCE has been detected in the groundwater and the metals greatly exceed concentrations typically found in groundwater.
P. 8/150: “Based on the reported results Foster Wheeler concluded that the cesium-137 and strontium-90 concentrations reported in the samples were not a concern when compared to exposure limits considered by the EPA to be protective of human health.”
This sentence is literally true yet totally misleading as “Neighborhood Threat” shows. Yet another example of Geocon’s imaginative way of not analyzing results already ascertained by the developers’ lab but also mischaracterized. The numbers speak for themselves as our investigation has repeatedly shown.
P. 8/150: “In 2000 Harding ESE collected an additional fourteen samples from the 715-acre parcel of the Site, two samples from the 350-acre parcel, and one just east of the 550-acre parcel to evaluate the presence of radionuclides. Based on the results Harding concluded that the property was not likely contaminated with tritium or cesium-137. They were unable to make a definitive conclusion regarding strontium-90 and recommended further sampling.”
This conclusion will be addressed in EnviroReporter.com’s analysis of the 2000 Harding ESE.
PP. 8-9/150: “In 2003 Miller Brooks collected an additional 27 soil samples from the Site and three from offsite that were evaluated for strontium-90. Only two of the soil samples contained detectible concentrations of strontium-90. Based on this data Miller Brooks concluded that reported concentrations were below levels considered to pose a health risk. Groundwater and surface water samples collected during these investigations were analyzed for tritium. The reported concentrations of tritium in the water samples were concluded to be below levels considered by regulatory agencies to pose a health risk.”
This is a notable instance where Geocon cites this study, repeatedly stating that samples were concluded to “be below levels considered by regulatory agencies to pose a health risk,” yet in the very next summation notes that the lab Dade Moeller didn’t include the 2003 Miller Brooks study because “the higher minimum detectable activity reported by the laboratory.” This misleading Geocon entry also fails to note that the city of Simi Valley used this 2003 Miller Brooks study as the basis of its EIR.
