Mar 19, 2008

Activists focused on Romic

Youths want council backing

By Banks Albach / Daily News Staff Writer

The toxic waste handler formerly known as Romic may be dead as dust, but it's not stopping a group of young East Palo Alto activists from keeping a close eye on the cleanup of the company's land.

Youth United for Community Action, or YUCA, presented a list of concerns to the East Palo Alto City Council on Tuesday regarding the cost and transparency in the state-mandated efforts to clean up the 12.7 acre site on Bay Road. Three Cities, an East Coast private equity firm that used to own Romic Environmental Technologies Corp., changed the landholding company's name to Bay Enterprises.

Last summer, Clean Harbors bought Romic from Three Cities, except for two sites, including East Palo Alto.

The Romic plant had been in operation for about 50 years, and in that time it has had a handful of different owners. The company also racked up several state violations, experienced workplace accidents and even had a 4,000-gallon tanker truck explode in 2006. The company's image with East Palo Alto residents reached an all-time low.

YUCA's Miriam Cruz, 18, urged the city council to draft and sign a letter supporting strong community involvement and send it to the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, which is overseeing the first stage of the cleanup.

"We ask the city to help finish the fight," Cruz said. "Our fear is that, once a polluter always a polluter."
Bay Enterprises representative Tracy Craig told the council in a separate presentation that her client has posted a $7.2 million cleanup bond with the state control agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, which is charge with monitoring the long-term cleanup.

"The money is there," Craig said.

But members of YUCA were skeptical after the meeting. Annie Loya, 22, questioned whether $7 million is enough to clean up almost 13 acres.

"Where's the cost analysis?" she said.
Romic specialized in treating and recycling waste, such as paint thinner, dry cleaning chemicals, fuels and other toxic solvents.
Craig said that Romic's infrastructure, including the vast concrete slab anchoring the site, could be cleaned, decommissioned and torn down by the end of the year. After that, the Environmental Protection Agency will oversee a long cleanup of the groundwater that could take close to seven years. Redevelopment could start in about three years, parallel to the cleanup, Craig said, depending on how contaminated the groundwater is. Both agencies are planning community meetings and comment, Craig said.

Craig said her main job is to foster community participation as the process goes forward. "I'm going to be here for a while, and I want to make myself available to all of you," she told the council.



E-mail Banks Albach at balbach@dailynewsgroup.com.