Daxon: Transfer of golf course to the city of Brea met with questions about future responsibility

If you’ve viewed Nextdoor.com or Brea City Council meetings you are aware some residents are very concerned about the council’s recent vote taking ownership of Birch Hills Golf Course from Chevron because to what may lie far beneath the course’s greens, from when the property housed a fertilizer-ammonia plant, and if the city could be on the hook for its clean up.

Councilman Steve Vargas, employed by Chevron, was excluded from the discussion and vote.

Since the plant was demolished in 1991, much remediation and removal of contaminates have been done by Unocal-Chevron. Six acres south of the golf course off Kraemer Boulevard were remediated to a higher degree required for the apartments and townhomes that are now there.

In 2008, when Unocal-Chevron’s La Floresta development was approved, the agreement was that the golf course would eventually transfer to Brea, fulfilling California’s mandate requiring developments to provide parkland to the city. The golf course fulfilled that requirement.

According to Brea City Manager Bill Gallardo, in 2010 the development agreement was signed and it stated the property would forever remain a golf course or other outdoor recreational use. In addition, said Gallardo: “Chevron will be responsible for anything that happens in the future.”

If contaminates or anything out of the ordinary is later found, Chevron is liable for the golf course or any other recreational use on the property, added Gallardo, who also said the property was never intended for housing.

In 2010-11, Chevron’s Birch/Kraemer LLC discovered arsenic and other toxins near the former railroad tracks and Loftus Channel. That put the 75-acre golf course transfer on hold until the contaminants were removed. Most were taken for offsite disposal by Chevron, and lower level PCBs were sealed deep under what is now the golf course parking lot, which remains Chevron’s responsibility and ownership.

The golf course was remediated to the standards of the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Orange County Health Care Agency for the exclusive use for outdoor recreation, plus a community center or banquet building, but not for housing.

Both agencies’ 2017 reports to Chevron, which were forwarded to the city, state no further action is required at this time.

The EPA report said the site is restored to a condition that does not pose unreasonable risk to health or to the environment. It is considered safe for outdoor recreational use and banquet facilities, but it is prohibited from ever being used for residential units without the approval of the EPA, the county health agency, the Chevron Corporation and the voters of Brea.

Brea resident and business owner Dwight Manley, however, had his attorney review the reports and the attorney said a Phase 1 environmental site assessment should be required.

Brea’s city attorney, Terence Boda, has spoken with that attorney and said: “Based on the prior soil studies, remediation work that’s been completed, and regulatory agency approvals that have been issued, my office does not agree that a Phase 1 report is necessary or appropriate at this time.”

Phase I identifies existing or potential environmental contamination liabilities, and were done by the EPA and county. Gallardo gave me permission to publish the links to the reports:

EPA: bit.ly/bhgcepa.

OCHCA: bit.ly/bhgcochealth

Enjoy the golf course, but don’t plan on moving there.

 

Terri Daxon is a freelance writer and the owner of Daxon Marketing Communications. She gives her perspective on Brea issues twice a month. Contact her at  daxoncomm@gmail.com.

from https://ift.tt/eA8V8J Orange County Register https://ift.tt/33b3Agk