Update on Terminal One project prompts letter from PRNC to Richmond City Council

   POINT RICHMOND - A presentation Wednesday night about the proposed environmental cleanup of the 13-acre Terminal One site on Brickyard Cove Road has prompted the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council to send a letter to the Richmond City Council detailing a variety of concerns.
     The Terminal One site is proposed for a 316-unit residential development by the Laconia Corporation of Walnut Creek. If approved, the development on a former industrial site would be a combination of buildings including multi-story condominiums and single family bayside homes.
     The presentation about the environmental hazards at the site and cleanup was made by Brian Lewis, a member of the Brickyard Cove Alliance for Responsible Development.
     "We have three major areas of concern," Lewis told the PRNC. "Ground water, soil and discharges to the bay."

Proposed development site, adjacent to the Richmond Yacht Club

     BCARD was formed to act as an environmental watchdog as area residents voiced repeated concerns in recent years about whether the toxic wastes at the site could be cleaned up adequately to allow for people to live there.
     "We felt the city was not listening to us," Lewis said.
     In his overview, Lewis walked PRNC members through some of the planned remediation proposals and cautioned that there needs to be effective monitoring of water quality if the project is built.
     "We as a community want to make sure it's cleaned up properly," he said.
     And because many of the known toxins - including Trichloroethylene (TCE) - will remain at the site, "it needs to be monitored indefinitely," he added.
     The letter from the PRNC is expected to be drafted next week so it can be included in the city council packet of information for the January 21 council meeting. Letters need to be received no later than January 15 to get to the council before the meeting.
     In addition to echoing concerns about environmental issues, the PRNC's letter is expected to ask questions about the appropriateness of a proposal to use nearly $3 million of city monies from other funds - like those designated for parks and sewer - to subsidize the Terminal One development.
     That fund-shift proposal has been under consideration since earlier this year. For details about that proposal, see "City delays consideration of funding" published by The Point July 1.
     For more background about the Terminal One site and a proposed cleanup plan, see Public Hearing from September 2018, also published by The Point.
     - Story by Michael J. Fitzgerald, The Point