Regional Water Quality Control Board Approves HHRA
HHRA — Agency Considers the Adjacent Property Compatible for the Construction and Operation of an Airport Replacement Passenger Terminal and Associated Facilities.
BURBANK, Calif., February 20, 2018 — The California Regional Water Quality Board, Los Angeles Region (Regional Water Board) has approved the Human Health Risk Assessment (HHRA) that the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority submitted as one of the steps in the replacement passenger terminal process. In its letter of approval, the Regional Water Board stated that it “considers the Adjacent Property compatible for the construction of and operation of an airport replacement passenger terminal and associated facilities.” The Adjacent Property, a portion of the Lockheed Plant B-6 site, is the preferred site for the replacement passenger terminal. With the HHRA approval by the Regional Water Board, the Airport Authority has reached a key milestone in the selection of a site for the replacement terminal project.
On February 6, 2017, the Commission awarded a contract to EFI Global, Inc. (EFI Global) for soil and soil gas sampling services on the Adjacent Property, and awarded a contract to Geosyntec Consultants, Inc. (Geosyntec) for preparation of an HHRA based on the results of such sampling. EFI Global conducted the sampling work in February and March 2017, analyzing 74 soil samples and 137 soil vapor samples. The sampling was designed to cover an extensive range of locations from four principal areas: the Desmond leasehold in the north, the unpaved central portion of the property, the employee lot, and the Lot A parking location to the southern portion of the Adjacent Property (designated as “Lot A East” on the attached map). Two accredited environmental laboratories analyzed the samples and EFI Global prepared a 12,700-page summary report, including all laboratory reports, boring logs, chain-of-custody documents and waste disposal manifests.
The HHRA utilizes risk screening levels to calculate the potential health risks to two types of individuals: construction contractor employees building the proposed project and future employees at the replacement passenger terminal, including vendor employees, Transportation Security Administration staff and others. Risk screening levels determine whether the risk posed by chemicals detected in the environment is at a de minimis level or is at a level that would require a more detailed site-specific review.
Based upon standard screening levels published by both the California Environmental Protection Agency and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Geosyntec concluded that the calculated cancer risks and noncancer hazard indexes are at or below the de minimis level for construction workers and airport workers. Because the calculated cancer risk and noncancer hazard indexes are below de minimis levels for full-time airport workers, Geosyntec’s report concluded that “the risk and hazard to an occasional airport visitor would also be below de minimis levels.” The Regional Water Quality Board approved these findings.
Once the Commission has selected a site for the replacement passenger terminal, the Airport Authority will also submit a Soil Management Plan to the Regional Water Board for review prior to the start of construction activities. The Airport Authority will implement the Soil Management Plan as part of project design features contained in the Final Environmental Impact Report and the Development Agreement for the replacement passenger terminal project. The Soil Management Plan will minimize soil and dust exposure to the construction workers and to neighboring property owners and users.
The Regional Water Board’s letter of review and the final HHRA are now available to the public on the Documents page of the Airport Authority’s replacement passenger terminal website.
EFI Global analyzed 74 soil samples and 137 soil vapor samples from a variety of locations across four principal areas: the Desmond Leasehold, the Unpaved Central Area, the Employee Lot/Lot A West and Lot A East. The California Regional Water Quality Board, Los Angeles Region, approved the findings in the Human Health Risk Assessment.
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Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) is owned and operated by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority, a joint powers agency created in 1977 between the Cities of Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena. The airport serves over 4.5 million passengers annually and reaches a dozen nonstop destinations in the United States. More information can be found on the airport’s website, www.HollywoodBurbankAirport.com, and on the airport’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds.