State Water Resources Control Board GeoTracker Site Closure Data

The State Water Resources Control Board owes the regulated community an explanation for why its nine Regional Boards closed 70% fewer sites in 2020 compared to the average of the three prior years. I will volunteer to help them with the explanation and a solution:

• The Explanation - The Cal-EPA Draft Vapor Intrusion Guidance Document (DVIG) makes it impossible for agencies to issue closures.
• The Solution - The DVIG should be set aside until this scientifically invalid approach to site remediation is supplemented with attenuation factors (AFs) that are representative of actual field conditions.

Winefield & Associates, Inc. (W&A) examined the GeoTracker closure records from 2017 through 2020 for the Cleanup Program sites and Leaking Underground Storage Tank sites, which currently have a combined 7,362 active cases. For the three years from 2017 through 2019, the average number of case closures was 121 per year. In 2020, the same nine Regional Boards closed only 36 cases!

This case closure slowdown was not a result of COVID. The regulators, responsible parties, and consultants were all directed to remediate sites under “essential work” criteria. The amount of remediation activity did not decrease, as evidenced by environmental consultants’ revenues for 2020, which were consistent with previous years.

The Department of Toxic Substances Control is also complicit in this closure activity debacle. DTSC actively supported the maligned DVIG process. DTSC has also refused to incorporate its own study’s AF values in the final DVIG document. We haven’t analyzed DTSC closure data, but I would bet (say, the dollar value of lost brownfield redevelopment) that DTSC closure letters dipped just as precipitously.

The SWRCB closure data is a prime example of the staggering harm the DVIG is creating for brownfield development, especially in underserved communities. If sites cannot be closed, who is going to invest in brownfields? If agencies will not issue closure letters, how many more responsible parties are going to abandon sites? When will these agencies wake up? Cal-EPA, SWRCB, and DTSC are destroying the powerful brownfield tool used to fight against sprawl and homelessness.

There is no environmental driving force for the DVIG. The AF data on which the DVIG is based is just wrong. It is time to change that 0.03 attenuation factor, ladies and gentlemen.

And to finalize this rant, let me ask the question: Is it just the cynic in me, or does it appear that SWRCB and DTSC are using the DVIG as an opportunity to be self-funding, so they just keep sites open and charge ridiculous oversight costs?

See the summary of the Winefield & Associates SWRCB site closure analysis below:

GeoTracker Site Closure Data
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