The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is accepting written comments through Friday on proposed changes to the existing remedy and cleanup plan for the former Teledyne Semiconductor and Spectra-Physics Lasers properties in Mountain View.
The agency also held a public hearing last week soliciting comments.
Both companies used volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including the chemical trichloroethene, in their manufacturing processes starting in the early 1960s. After VOCs were found in nearby soil and groundwater, the Teledyne property was declared a Superfund site in 1987 and Spectra-Physics in 1991.
Cleanup work at the sites has included removing contaminated soil, extracting soil vapor and extracting and treating groundwater. The EPA’s proposed changes would incorporate advances in groundwater cleanup technologies and address vapor intrusion (when VOCs move through soil under a building and enter the indoor air) to provide a faster and more protective cleanup. The proposed changes include injecting microorganisms into the groundwater to promote breakdown of VOCs – also called bioremediation – and incorporating indoor air testing and mitigation efforts, as needed, to control for vapor intrusion.
Written comments may be submitted to Angela Sandoval, EPA Project Manager, 75 Hawthorne St. (SFD-7-1), San Francisco 94105, or emailed to [email protected].
To view the proposed cleanup plan and for more information on the Superfund sites, visit epa.gov/superfund/Teledyne and epa.gov/superfund/spectra-physics.
