Toxics torpedo Moffett housing deal Toxics torpedo Moffett housing deal (July 01, 2005)

By Jon Wiener

A plume of chemical solvent beneath the Orion Park housing complex at Moffett Field has mucked up the Army's plans to lease the property to a private developer, forcing the Army to rebuild and replace the dilapidated units itself.

Officials have spent years arguing over how trichloroethylene (TCE) wound up in groundwater close to the surface at Orion Park, where a group of 460 housing units, half of them occupied, sit just outside Moffett Field's main gate. Those in charge of the clean-up effort there -- including the Navy, Moffett Field's former owner -- say they are still trying to sort out who is responsible for the problem.

Their failure to resolve the dispute has stalled development plans long enough that the Army will have to fix the Orion units on its own.

The Army took over the 72-acre property from the Navy in 1994, and later included it as a part of an eight-year $350 million deal with Clark Pinnacle Realty. Under terms of the 2002 agreement, the company received a 50-year ground lease at housing areas on three California military bases, including Moffett. In exchange, it committed to building or refurbishing more than a thousand residences for military personnel, including nearly 400 at Moffett Field.

An official from Clark Pinnacle told the Voice last week that the company would meet its obligation to build units in the area, but would not use Orion Park. Instead, the Army will have to build the units on its own to accommodate the expected arrival of hundreds of new reservists from Los Alamitos.
Testing for the source

Navy scientists have been testing the groundwater at Orion Park since 2000, trying to determine the scope and source of the TCE contamination there. According to Navy clean-up manager Rick Weissenborn, a new round of testing scheduled to begin July 11 should help resolve the question.

The Environmental Protection Agency is conducting its own tests that the Navy hopes will show enough similarities to indicate a common link to an off-site source, such as a tech manufacturer or a dry cleaner.

"It's in the Navy's best interest to try to tout that story," said Jodi Winters, a project manager for Clark Pinnacle. "It's very clear that could take years before being resolved."

Military families living at Orion Park began complaining about strange ailments in 2002, at a time when the Navy was refusing to test for pollution inside the homes. When Navy officials relented, they found that levels of TCE vapor deemed unsafe by the EPA over extended periods of time had seeped into homes there.

Activists and community members, including several who serve on the Restoration Advisory Board (RAB), have consistently criticized the Navy for downplaying the health threat to Orion Park residents and delaying the clean-up effort in order to find somebody to blame first.

Most recently, Navy officials said that contamination in three out of the 22 vacant homes tested last summer was not a threat because the homes were all vacant.

"Our position is that the indoor air pollution at Orion Park does not pose an immediate or a short-term health risk," said Weissenborn.
Orion triggers juggling act

The dispute at Orion Park also has threatened Clark Pinnacle's plans to build private homes on military land in the center of town.

Under terms of the original deal, the developer would build 386 homes at two Moffett Field locations: Orion Park and Wescoat Housing. Construction is already underway at the latter.

But a third property, known as Shenandoah and located at the corner of Moffett Boulevard and Middlefield Road, was designated to be "excessed" -- purchased by the company, annexed to the city of Mountain View and turned into private residences for civilians.

Now, unless the Army relaxes its requirements, Clark Pinnacle might have to use Shenandoah, an island of federal land surrounded by Mountain View proper, to make up for the 126 military homes it was going to build at Orion Park.

City planners are ready to annex Shenandoah and clear the way for a residential community. The site is on a list of project applications the city's Community Development Department expects to receive in the upcoming year, and a department memo says the development will be more than enough to occupy a full-time staff member for the entire year.

While city officials have been in informal talks with the involved parties, they say nothing is definite. Clark Pinnacle's Winters said the environmental clearance process alone could take six months, and that the company won't know Shenandoah's future until the beginning of next year.

"They would have to come to the city with something concrete," said assistant city manager Nadine Levin. "None of us know when it could be triggered."

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice.com

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