ARTICLE 31. Inspection Report for August 17, 2007

Transcription

1 San Francisco City and County Department of Public Health Environmental Health Section Hazardous Waste Program Gavin Newsom, Mayor Mitchell H. Katz, Director of Health Rajiv Bhatia, M.D.,M.P.H. Director of Environmental Health ARTICLE 31 Inspection Report for August 17, 2007 August 28, 2007 Jeff Austin Lennar/BVHP, L.L.C. 49 Stevenson St., Suite 600 San Francisco, CA Dear Mr. Austin: This letter transmits an August 17, 2007 inspection report for an inspection conducted by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) at the Parcel A Hunters Point Shipyard Redevelopment project. SFDPH staff conducted the inspection between 2:45 and 4:30 pm to verify compliance with your approved Article 31 Dust Control Plan. The details of the inspection, including the observation times and inspector s notes about his observations are in Attachment 1. The photograph number and notes to accompany the photographs are in Attachment 2. The corresponding photographs are too large to be ed and will be sent to you by other electronic means. As you are aware, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to Lennar/BVHP, LLC on Monday, August 20 as a result of these observations made during the inspection. A copy of that NOV is attached (Attachment 3). The area of the violation was the soil storage area behind Building 808 and the haul roads going to and from that soil storage area. We received your response dated August 21, 2007 to the SFDPH NOV. We appreciate Lennar s prompt response to the NOV and your compliance with the conditions of the NOV. Sincerely, Amy Brownell, P.E. Environmental Engineer Hazardous Waste 1390 Market Street, Suite 210, Phone (415) Program San Francisco, Ca Fax (415)

2 Article 31, Inspection Report cc: Kofi Bonner, Lennar Dave Wilkins, Lennar Paul Menaker, Lennar Michael Cohen, MOEWD Nicole Franklin, SFRA Rajiv Bhatia, SFDPH David Rizzolo, SFDPH Mitch Katz, SFDPH Wayne Lee, BAAQMD Vicki Dvorak, BAAQMD Thomas Theriault, BDI Bernie Tse, SFDPW Hunters Point Task Force Saul Bloom, ARC/Ecology Keith Forman, Navy Mark Ripperda, USEPA Tom Lanphar, DTSC Jim Ponton, RWQCB This inspection report documents an onsite visit and identifies violations of Article 31 of the San Francisco Health Code. The full text of Article 31 can be found at The implementing regulations for Article 31 of the Health Code can be found at The Notice of Violation was issued pursuant to Article 31, Section 3110 Enforcement Actions, which references Article 21, Section 1133 which can be found at Market Street, Suite 210 San Francisco, CA Phone , Fax Page 2 of 2

3 ATTACHMENT 1

4 Health Code Article 31 Dust Control Plan Inspection Form Hunters Point Shipyard Parcel A Lennar BVHP LLC Development Date: 8/17/07 Inspector: David Rizzolo Weather Conditions at the Site: sunny, light wind Location - Earl and LaSalle Time: 4:35 Observations-No work at this site observed at this time. Evidence of road grading work recently. Location - Donahue St. and Kirkwood St. Time: 2:40 pm Observations- On the top of the hill, there are wet and dry areas observable through the cracks in the green fence. I observed that the dirt pile in the yard behind building 808 is really dry and dusty. There is no sign of recent watering on the roads or the pile. Tractor trailer rigs are bringing end dumps full of dirt to the pile. A grader is moving and packing the dirt. There are huge clouds of visible dust from the work on the pile, and on the roadways up and down from the pile. First photo about 2:45 by camera time (the camera clock says 1:45, PST). At this time, I observed a cloud of dust that I felt must have crossed the property boundary. The tractor/trailer rigs are making the most dust, on the lower haul road, but the grader is making dust steadily in its area of the stockpile. At about 2:53 pm, I called Amy Brownell and left a message to alert her of the possibility of a violation due to dust crossing the property boundary. At 3:10 a water truck made a pass through the pile and watered about10-20% of the area, leaving the rest bone dry. At 3:15 I called Amy again, and left a message. At 3:16 pm the water truck returned and watered most of the flat area of the stock pile, ~75%. It is still dry where the grader is working (no water) and on the road to the wheel wash area where the trucks bring dirt up. The road to the wheel wash is still so dry that the wind kicks up clouds of dust intermittently. I continue to see lots of dust from truck activity on the roads up and down and on the stockpile. At 3:40 Amy called and I agreed to stay 90 minutes to document.

5 At 3:43 I observed a very large (boundary violation). A black tractor w/trailer, coming up the road from the wheel wash, produced a large cloud of dust that went about feet up and moved East across the boundary towards building 813. I continue to see wind blowing dust on the lower road (to wheel wash), but not as bad as the dust from the trucks. At 3:49 I observed another cloud of dust and a boundary violation. I observed another cloud of dust and a boundary violation. At 3:58 the water truck passed through the stockpile, but did not water at all. At 4:04 the water truck went around the stockpile flat area again wetting about 60-75% of the area, not where the grader is working. Again, there was very little wetting on the roads, either up to the top, or down to the wheel wash. Not many trucks are using the upper road. The trucks are bringing the dirt from direction of Crisp. At 4:17 the stockpile is starting to get really dusty again. At 4:23 it is very dusty again and I observed another large and boundary violation. At 4:26 the water truck watered the stockpile again, on one pass going down the the road to the wheel wash (only 50% coverage). The water truck made huge amounts of dust. At 4:30 I am leaving the site. The grader is still making dust from its steady activity of pushing and compacting dirt on the stockpile, albeit not as much as the trucks on the roads. The area where the grader was working the stockpile was never watered and it produced dust continuously. This accounting doesn t identify specifically each event I observed in which dust crossed the property boundary. I believe that I observed large s that crossed the boundary about 10, or more, times on this afternoon. There were many more s that were severe but may not have crossed the boundary. However, in the ~105 minutes that I observed work at the Site, there were dust producing areas of the site that were never wetted (where the grader worked), or were never adequately watered, to suppress dust. Even on the flat area of the stock pile, where the wetting was more thorough, the wetting was still not sufficient to keep the dust suppressed for very long, and it was dusty again long before the truck would return. When I first arrived at the site, the upper and lower roads to the stockpile and the top of the stockpile had no signs of any recent watering, and the slightest activity, even wind, was producing copious airborne visible dust.

6 ATTACHMENT 2

7 Hunter s Point, Parcel A Inspection/Photograph Notes by David Rizzolo Photographs taken August 17, 2007 Photo # Time Brief Description Probable Boundary Violation P :53 Dust cloud in air, barely visible X 533 2:55 Dust from grader on upper road 559 2:59 Wind-blown dust on lower road 592 3:01 Pickup truck on upper road, dust 601 3:01 Pickup truck on lower road, dust 609 3:05 Tractor/trailer on lower road, 617 3:05 Tractor on upper road, severe dust 627 3:05 Tractor/trailer on lower road, X 669,671,672,673,681 3:09 Water truck, upper and lower road, X boundary violation 698 3:16 Water truck, returning to water below 765 3:29 Gray pickup truck, dust on upper road 775 3:39 Tractor/trailer on lower road, 789,790,791,792,793,797 3:43 Tractor/trailer on lower road, X 810,812 3:49 Tractor/trailer on lower road, X 815,817,818,820 3:49 Tractor/trailer on lower road, X 826 3:50 Tractor/trailer on lower road 829,831,832,834 3:52 X 851,852 3:57 Water truck making on the lower road 878,880,882 4:01 Tractor/trailer on lower road making a 896,899 4:04 Water truck on the upper road making a 910 4:04 Dust from lower road crossing the stockpile 912,913 4:05 X 949, 951,952,953 4:22 Tractor/trailer on lower road making a 958,960 4:23 Tractor/trailer on lower road making a 972 4:26 Water truck on the lower road, smaller 987 4: ,1011,1012,1013 4:33 Tractor/trailer on lower road making a X X X X

8 ATTACHMENT 3

9 San Francisco City and County Department of Public Health Environmental Health Section Gavin Newsom, Mayor Mitchell H. Katz,,Director of Health Rajiv Bhatia, M.D.,M.P.H. Director of Environmental Health ARTICLE 31 NOTICE OF VIOLATION for August 17, 2007 August 20, 2007 Kofi Bonner Lennar/BVHP, L.L.C. 49 Stevenson St., Suite 600 San Francisco, CA Dear Mr. Bonner: Based on inspections conducted on Friday, August 17, 2007, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) is issuing a Notice of Violation to Lennar/BVHP, LLC. SFDPH staff conducted the inspection between 2:45 and 4:30 pm on August 17 th, 2007 at the Hunters Point Shipyard Parcel A to verify compliance with your approved Article 31 Dust Control Plan. The area of the violation was the soil storage area behind Building 808 and the haul roads going to and from that soil storage area. The inspector observed trucks and other equipment dumping and spreading soil behind Building 808 on the hilltop portion of Parcel A. The inspector observed two conditions that constitute independent violations of the approved Dust Control Plan: (1) dust crossing the property boundary to Navy property without effective measures of control (Section 6.2.1) and (2) visible dust for over 90 minutes without effective measures of control (Section 6.2.2). According to Section , dust crossing the property boundary without immediately implemented effective measure of control constitutes a violation of your Dust Control Plan. The inspector observed visible dust crossing the property boundary between Parcel A and Navy Property and the emissions source (dusty roads and trucks driving on dusty roads). Section , requires visible dust from soil disturbance or excavation to be effectively controlled within 90 minutes. The inspector observed the site for over 90 minutes. Although limited efforts to control dust, including watering, occurred in the area of the violation, these efforts were not successful in controlling the visible dust within the time required period required by the Plan. According to the Plan, the actions resulting in dust emissions should have been stopped within this time period until effective control practices were implemented. Immediate Action Required Although Lennar/BVHP LLC has been in compliance with the Article 31 dust control plan over the last seven months, the findings of the August 17 th inspection result in the fourth Notice of Violation on the Dust Control Problems for Lennar/BVHP LLC since the mass grading began in April We are therefore requiring that Lennar / BVHP LLC shall suspend all dust generating activities at the project for at least forty-eight hours in order that you can establish work practices that will prevent future recurrences Market Street, Suite 210, San Francisco, Ca Phone (415) , Fax (415)

10 Your efforts may include a review of the incident for the causes of compliance failure and training of all relevant employees and subcontractors on the requirements of the Dust Control Plan. Lennar shall notify SFDPH when they will be restarting the work effort and describe actions they are taking to prevent future violations. We ask that Lennar send a letter no later than the end of the work suspension period (a minimum of forty-eight hours, or longer, if Lennar so chooses) of the actions that were taken during this review period including at a minimum: 1. Results from the review of incident; 2. Any new work practice procedures implemented by Lennar or its contractors. In addition, SFDPH intends to use this forty-eight hour time period to establish an SFDPH Dust Control Plan monitor to provide enhanced and ongoing surveillance of the project. The monitor shall be supervised by SFDPH staff and the costs for this monitor shall be billed to Lennar based on the mechanism established in the Article 31. Through this monitor, SFDPH will independently verify that the dust control is meeting all Dust Control Plan requirements and assist Lennar in adhering to Plan requirements. This monitor will continue to function in this role until such time as SFDPH determines that the role is no longer needed. In a few days, we will document and send to you further details of the inspection, including the time periods, the exact area of the violation and photos of the visible dust. DPH also has the authority to assess penalties for violations of Article 31. We are determining whether a monetary penalty is indicated for this violation. Sincerely, Rajiv Bhatia, MD, MPH. Director of Occupational and Environmental Health cc: Jeff Austin, Lennar Dave Wilkins, Lennar Paul Menaker, Lennar Michael Cohen, MOEWD Nicole Franklin, SFRA Marcia Rosen, SFRA Amy Brownell, SFDPH David Rizzolo, SFDPH Mitch Katz, SFDPH Wayne Lee, BAAQMD Thomas Theriault, DBI Bernie Tse, SFDPW Vicki Dvorak, BAAQMD Hunters Point Task Force Saul Bloom, ARC/Ecology 2

11 References This inspection report documents an onsite visit and identifies violations of Article 31 of the San Francisco Health Code. The full text of Article 31 can be found at The implementing regulations for Article 31 of the Health Code can be found at This Notice of Violation is issued pursuant to Article 31, Section 3110 Enforcement Actions, which references Article 21, Section 1133 which can be found at Sections of the Dust Control Plan relevant to this violation include: Visible Dust Crossing the Property Boundary In the event visible dust from soil disturbance or excavation is observed crossing the property boundary, the following procedures will be followed to ensure adequate mitigation measures are in place to address the dust: The specific source of the emissions will be immediately shut down and a more aggressive application of the existing mitigation measures described in Section 4.0 will be directed. Once the mitigation measures have been applied, the source of emissions will resume and observations will be conducted to verify that the mitigation measures were successful On-Site Visible Dust In the event visible dust from soil disturbance or excavation is observed on-site, but does not cross the property boundary, the following procedures will be followed to ensure adequate mitigation measures are in place to address the dust: A more aggressive application of the existing mitigation measures described in Section 4.0 or additional methods of dust suppression will be directed to the specific source of emissions within 60 minutes of the initial observation. If despite these more aggressive and/or additional measures the visible dust emissions continue for 90 minutes from the time of the initial observation, the specific source of emissions will be temporarily shut down until the implemented dust control mitigation is effective or, due to changed conditions, no longer necessary. 3