Oakland Affordable Senior Housing

Citadel EHS manages the investigation and remediation of a 0.64 acre commercial property in the City of Oakland within Alameda County. The site is an Equitable Communities Revitalization Grant (ECRG) environmental investigation project under the oversight of the Department of Toxic Substances (DTSC).

The site is located in a mixed commercial and residential land use area and is currently developed with four commercial buildings, which are occupied by churches, a preschool, commercial spaces, a commercial kitchen, and several auto repair and storage shops. The existing church and preschool will continue to occupy the 0.24-acre area in the southern portion of the site. The remaining 0.40-acre area that is comprised of the central and northern portions of the site will be redeveloped for affordable senior housing units. The planned redevelopment will be a four-story affordable apartment complex that includes podium parking, a leasing office, and community space on the first floor and residential units on the second through fourth floors.

The site investigations were conducted to evaluate the presence and extent of chemicals of potential concern (COPCs) in soil, groundwater, soil vapor, and indoor air to sufficiently support planned redevelopment of the site and protect current occupants of the church and preschool. The site is impacted with chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and petroleum-related compounds. Based on the site investigations, which were documented in the Preliminary Endangerment Assessment (PEA) and Supplemental Site Investigation (SSI) reports, the key findings included the following:

• Lead impacts in shallow soil;
• Two underground storage tanks (USTs) beneath the sidewalk adjacent to the site, which were removed in 2023; and
• Chlorinated VOC impacts in groundwater and soil vapor, which appear to be from an unidentified regional upgradient source in groundwater.

Based on these findings, a Removal Action Work Plan (RAW) is being prepared to include a vapor intrusion mitigation system (VIMS), and a Site Management Plan (SMP) to facilitate safe redevelopment into affordable senior housing.

Citadel’s work has included evaluating vapor intrusion impacts and potential human health risks associated with COPCs in groundwater, soil vapor, and indoor air. Due to ECRG schedule limitations, our work was often compressed to meet or exceed the client’s schedules. Citadel’s work to date has been completed within budget and has met required timelines.