Navy addresses toxics in Hangar One Navy addresses toxics in Hangar One (September 24, 2004)

Landmark among toxic issues featured in last week's meetings

By Jon Wiener

Help could be on the way soon to Moffett Field's massive Hangar One, an icon to long-time residents and a familiar sight to travelers.

The building that once housed the world's largest airship is now a polluted shell of its former self. Plans to build a science and technology education facility that would draw one million visitors annually have been shelved pending a decision on the cleanup of toxic chemicals found on the site last year.

The Navy released a preliminary plan on Sept. 15 to catalog and address the polychlorinated biphenyls and other pollutants that have seeped from the hangar's coatings of paint into the indoor air and storm-water run-off.

Project manager Art Tamayo told the Restoration Advisory Board, a group of stakeholders that discusses issues involving the Moffett cleanup, that he hoped to have a final plan by January and begin the sampling that will ultimately determine the building's fate by spring.

A protective coating added last year temporarily prevented the problem from becoming worse, and is considered being used again. But putting a long-term clean-up plan in place is crucial to any future use of the structure.

Alison Hicks, of the Mountain View Preservation Alliance, said Hangar One's significance extends beyond Mountain View.

"Nationally, this is probably the most important structure in Mountain View's sphere of influence," she said. Earlier this year, the alliance nominated it to be placed on America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places List, but it was rejected.

Toxics council starts keeping score

The Northeast Mountain View Advisory Council introduced a new feature last week that is intended force companies and agencies to follow through on neighborhood concerns involving the area's toxic trichloroethene pollution. It will be recording a scorecard of the action taken by these companies during its monthly meetings.

Among the topics revived at the meeting were SMI's efforts to do additional clean-up work on what is now VeriSign's campus, where SMI is responsible for some contamination. The council also discussed conflicts in maps of the area's toxic ground water, apparently caused by the Navy, NASA and several former tech companies in the area trying to limit their own culpability.

A planned presentation on new technologies to clean the area's ground water was delayed until the October meeting due to the meeting's time constraints.

Toxic symposium focuses on workplaces

In another local toxic discussion last week, state Assembly member and former Mountain View Mayor Sally Lieber sponsored a symposium on how to protect people from toxic pollution in the workplace.

The half-day event took place in Mountain View's city council chambers and featured presentations from toxics experts, government officials and an attorney. Lieber gave the opening and closing addresses.

E-mail Jon Wiener at jwiener@mv-voice

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