Hat tip to Richard for sending this in:
Methane and volatile chemicals such as benzene have been discovered underground at a yet-to-be completed Otay Ranch project that is marketed as one of the largest planned housing developments in the U.S.
Homebuyers in the Chula Vista community known as Village of Escaya can’t move into their homes because government officials have stopped installation of water meters.
inewsource is the first to report on the discovery, though contractors first noticed the potential problem in April. Water sampling began the following month and the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health was alerted in June.
“The district is doing its due diligence to make sure that they’re evaluating the situation,” Otay Water District spokeswoman Tenille Otero said Friday.
The Otay Water District provides water and wastewater service to nearly a quarter-million customers in San Diego County. It typically takes responsibility for a developer’s work, including pipes and facilities, once a project is completed. In this case, the district is refusing to install water meters within the 450-acre development until the problems with the methane and other chemicals are resolved.
Other agencies involved include the Chula Vista Development Services Department and Chula Vista Elementary School District, as well as several private companies.
The land’s developer, Carlsbad-based HomeFed Corp., is marketing nearly 1,000 homes in an area adjacent to the Otay Landfill, auto-salvage yards and the country’s largest producer of construction aggregates. According to HomeFed’s most recent quarterly report, 165 homes were under contract to close within Escaya as of Oct. 24.
HomeFed’s president and chief executive officer, Paul Borden, told inewsource on Friday the discovery of methane and other volatile compounds is not unusual in California.
“It’s going to be dealt with absolutely the way it should be dealt with,” Borden said, adding that HomeFed is working out mitigation measures with the water district. The matter will be resolved “very soon,” he said.
Borden said homebuyers also have been alerted to the issue.
“Among the many many things that are disclosed, this is definitely one of them,” he said.
Read full article here:
Methane is understandable but benzene? No, that’s bad. Even if “mitigated” the cloud will stay with the property. Every cancer and birth defect that will statistically occur in a development of this size will be blamed on the contamination. The problem may be scientifically fixed but the reputation damage will persist.
Benzene def: Toxic, volatile, flammable liquid hydrocarbon byproduct of coal distillation. Benzene is used as an industrial solvent in paints, varnishes, lacquer thinners, gasoline, etc. Benzene causes central nervous system damage acutely and bone marrow damage chronically and is carcinogenic. It was formerly used as parasiticide.
Yikes! Maybe building homes next to a landfill, auto-salvage yards, and Vulcan Materials isn’t so smart?
folks, if you can..stick to north county..coastal or SM….I would avoid Otay at all costs, yes it does cost more to live there, yes its a higher house payment…but you get what you pay for…
I wonder how far the gases travel before adequate displacement significantly mitigates the toxic gas’s cancer and respiratory-arrest provoking qualities. I’m gonna bet nobody with authority will draw a line for the teeming masses to make informed decisions.
I’m just that way.
So, I got this air thing a few days ago. Link below.
Surrounding fire discharge was putting a real scratch in my groove.
Seems to work great. The obnoxious fire smell from… everywhere, is gone. Raspy throat, red eyes, bad sleep completely mitigated. Fan quiet, priced well. If it does everything the manufacturer’s claim, all the better. If not-which is probable-the qualifiable results were worth it. You can *certainly* pay a lot more for one:
https://www.amazon.com/Surround-Air-Intelli-Pro-XJ-3800-Intelligent/dp/B000HVTC5G/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1513110430&sr=8-3&keywords=surround+air
Alternative air cleaner for millenials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnifYrtPUrA
Hope this helps.
As an example of enduring public relations damage I recalled this :
http://articles.latimes.com/1990-02-10/news/mn-139_1_perrier-water
More than a quarter century later.
House the homeless there?
Tom:
“House the homeless there?”
You must be new around here. They’re getting “first class” high-rises built for their use around L.A. county, in what will wind up being choice area’s–to begin with. When word gets out, the homeless will tend to withdraw from area’s that don’t offer homeless first-class accommodations, and head for L.A. county to compete for resources.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-skid-row-highrise-20171211-story.html