On November 4, 2024, the Devore family’s struggles due to a situation that was not their fault, and beyond their ability to control, finally came to end when the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Regional Board) issued a final No Further Action Determination (NFA) for a property that the family owned and leased to various tenants over the years. BEC planning, implementation and reporting efforts helped the Devore family to get through this very challenging situation.
The saga began in Sunday March 17, 2019, when the Devores woke up to the news that the property, which was leased to a tenant for vehicle storage, had exploded sending a plume of dark smoke over Los Angeles (see the below picture). Worse yet, the next-door building had caught fire and two innocent bystanders had been hurt.
The explosion, fire and injury were due to a combination of factors including leakage of gasoline from a 9,000 gallon above ground tank that the tenant had illegally stored on the site in violation of the lease. In addition, fire fighters responded to complaints of gasoline odors used a rotary saw to cut the chain on the gate. According to a Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman, sparks from the saw caused the vapors to ignite.
A multitude of regulatory agencies descended upon the property and required the Devores to respond to a series of complicated and costly response activities. The Devores reached out for legal help and the law firm introduced the Devores to BEC to provide support in working through the various regulatory issues and response activities.
The actions that BEC took in support of the Devores included the following.
- In mid-2019, BEC managed the characterization and disposal of waste generated during the emergency response activity. This included the disposed of approximately 1,817 gallons of liquid containing gasoline, drummed soil/debris containing gasoline, drummed oil, and containerized soil and debris.
- BEC planned and implemented a shallow soil removal action (RA) under the direction primarily of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This work was implemented between December 2019 and February 2020 and involved the excavation and disposal of 364 cubic yards of impacted soil to depths of up to 10 feet below ground surface. As the site is in a mixed property use area with several adjacent residential units, an extensive air monitoring program was conducted to document the lack of potential exposure to transient vapors during the excavation. The removal action was done under direct oversight of the EPA, Regional Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and Los Angeles City Fire Department. Based on this work, the EPA issued a letter in February 2020 which determined that the Devores had satisfied EPA’s requirements and stated that “the Site no longer presents a threat to surface water.”
- BEC performed subsurface investigations to define the horizontal and lateral extent of gasoline-related compounds in subsurface soil and soil gas in 2019 and 2020. Based on this work a Remedial Action Pan (RAP) was prepared and submitted to the Regional Board. The RAP was approved by the Regional Board on February 8, 2021.
- BEC implemented a soil vapor extraction program between March 23, 2021 and June 30, 2022. The system was shut down after extracted concentrations leveled off following the removal of approximately 442.7 pounds of gasoline range organics.
- BEC conducted two phases of confirmation sampling per the requirements of the Regional Board between July 2022 and November 2023. BEC conducted further negotiations with the Regional Board between late 2023 and early August 2024. On August 20, 2024, the Regional Board conducted public notifications of their intent to issue a no further action determination. On November 4, 2024, over five years following the initial explosion and gasoline release, the Regional Board issued the final site NFA.
Throughout the process, BEC provided the Devores with timely estimates and projections regarding the expenditures that would be incurred in response to the active and anticipated agency requirements. These projections included monthly cash flow estimates that were within 95% of the actual costs incurred (estimates were 5% higher than actual costs). The accuracy of these estimates reflects BEC’s many years of experience in dealing with the various regulatory agencies during the implementation of challenging remedial solutions. BEC believes that accurate information, even if it is sometimes very painful to hear initially, is critical for our clients to properly manage environmental liabilities.
If you are struggling with the uncertainty involved in environmental cleanup programs and need accurate and timely information in order to properly plan, please reach out to Bowyer Environmental Consulting for support at 877/232-4620.