Leaders, residents assess Lincoln's missile site contamination and call for its removal, second meeting in the works

For the first time in decades, community members and city, state and federal officials met Feb. 2 on Oak Tree Lane next to Lincoln's former Titan 1 Missile Silo Site to discuss removing the site's spreading contamination. Lincoln City Manager Sean Scully, Lincoln City Councilman Bill Lauritsen, Tiffany Saathoff from State Assemblyman Joe Patterson's office and Edward Heidig from Congressman Kevin Kiley's office were among those in attendance. "Our residents are very interested in what's going on here," said Sun City Lincoln Hills Community Association board President Craig Fraser. "People have been talking about it so that's why I came out." Community members raised questions about the Titan site after articles ("Lincoln's Defunct Missile Site Contamination Has Spread" and "How Lincoln acquired a nuclear missile site in 1962") and a column ("This story too close for comfort") were in the Jan. 19 Lincoln News Messenger. The stories highlighted the missile site's history, the site's contamination spread, the health risks it imposes on Lincoln residents, the lack of effort to clean the site since 1991, and potential new housing and parks on and adjacent to the contaminated site. "I don't want to own any property there unless it gets cleaned up. It's a liability," said Ken Long, who is in contract with one of the TCE-contaminated properties across from the site. Long's property is next to the St. Joseph Church. The TCE plume originates from the missile site southwest and is under the church property and the adjacent two properties, Crocker Knoll and Hidden Hills, which are planned as housing developments. Long's property in contract, known as Crocker Knoll, extends west of Oak Tree Lane and borders the homes on Prunella Lane next to Snapdragon Lane in Sun City Lincoln Hills. Lincoln officials late last year told Long he can not build homes there because of the current TCE contamination. Long said that he expects TCE cleanup to take a few years but he will continue with purchasing the property if he can at least get a commitment and plan of action from the agency responsible for the clean-up. The Feb. 2 meeting was led by Center for Public Environmental Oversight director Lenny Siegel. The nonprofit center in Mountain View promotes and facilitates public participation in the oversight of environmental activities at federal facilities, private Superfund sites and Brownfields. "The big problem is that it's been ignored for years by the Army Corps of Engineers," Siegel said. "None of the homes in the area are currently at risk but if nothing is done, contamination will spread underneath Sun City homes." Siegel also said that there is a need for more monitoring wells and measurements and that there are high levels of contamination at SV-01 monitoring well that haven't been explained and that additional testing on the site needs to happen. The group of nearly 20 concerned attendees met outdoors in 30-degree weather for nearly an hour to learn more about the site, what can be done to remedy it and what agency is responsible for removing the contamination. "I'm in the infant stage of learning about this whole thing," said Kyle Bodyfelt, Sun City Lincoln Hills Community Association executive director who was at the meeting. "I'm just trying to get more information for myself and the community." Lincoln City Manager Scully said he attended the meeting because he was invited by The Lincoln News Messenger's editor and because he was interested in "learning from Mr. Siegel who clearly has experience working on these types of challenges." Prior to the meeting, Scully said he was familiar with some of Siegel's work. "I really appreciated getting to hear Mr. Siegel's advice and experience working in communities that have had TCE contamination," Scully said. "I particularly appreciated his perspective on solutions, given that he has experience as a former City Councilmember and mayor of Mountain View. He was able to give a unique perspective, having experienced similar challenges in his city." After the meeting, Scully said that he "wanted to be clear" on the city's authority regarding the matter. "The city itself is not directly responsible for paying for or carrying out the remediation of the contamination as the city had no role in the contamination in the first place," Scully said. "The city maintains that this is a federal responsibility. That said, the city should have a role, as an affected agency, to inhabit a seat at the table as any future work plan or monitoring of the current contamination is discussed." Scully added, "City staff have, over many years, been involved in communication with the water board related to this matter. More recently, that communication has been related to mitigation measures and consultation on any and all development proposals in the immediate area." City staff is working to compile information on the contamination as well as any upcoming discussions with appropriate state and federal agencies that might result in new updated data, according to Scully. The goal is to "help coordinate a public meeting for the community that would hopefully include appropriate authorities on this topic so that the community can learn more about the current state of contamination and the steps or path forward." Community members left the Feb. 2 meeting with high hopes of a resolution coming soon. "I tip my hat off to everyone for going out there," said Anne Birge, a Sun City Lincoln Hills resident who spearheaded the recent media probe into the contaminated missile site. "The people who can help us the most are state representatives. I'm hoping our elected representatives will stand up to the Army Corps, who haven't done anything since 1999, and do something now." Fran Neves, a local resident and St. Joseph Catholic Church member, said she thought the meeting went well. "I was really happy to see Sean Scully and some of the council (Councilman Lauritsen). Sean showed he did some digging already so it was good to see that he has interest." Siegel stressed four key takeaways at the meeting: Already-built houses are not at current risk Unless remediated, TCE will continue to slowly move toward current residencesNew homes near the missile site will require vapor mitigation The county needs to remove lead and structural hazards from its property if it plans public access, such as the proposed regional park on the missile site's three silos. "I am a Lincoln Hills resident as well as being the City Council representative for this area. The people most affected by the Titan site are my constituents," said Lincoln City Councilman Lauritsen. "We need to get all relevant authorities, city, county, state and federal, in one room with the stakeholders and hammer out a plan to stop the spreading of the contaminants and clean up the site to residential standards. We need to hear a plan." Lauritsen highlighted the federal government's and county government's roles. "The city of Lincoln does not own the land. The missile site is currently owned by Placer County. I would not want the city to take ownership until the Titan missile site is made safe and the lead contaminants left over from the shooting range are removed," Lauritsen said. "As for the TCE and other contaminants left over from when the missile site was active, that is the responsibility of the federal government and they need to tell us the scope of the contamination and how they plan to mitigate it." A second meeting to discuss the next steps is in the works. Long suggested getting all the agencies and community members together in one room to discuss solutions. Feb. 2 meeting attendees said they want Lincoln, Sun City Lincoln Hills and county officials; U.S. Representative Kiley; State Assemblyman Patterson; Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to talk at a public meeting this month. Those in attendance agreed that a second meeting should be planned this month. On Wednesday, Sun City Lincoln Hills Community Association President Fraser said the association is offering its meeting room as the next meeting location. The Lincoln News Messenger will provide meeting details as they become available. Kiley's office sent out a statement from Kiley on Feb. 3 about the missile site remediation efforts: "My office has been in communication with officials in Placer County and the city of Lincoln, as well as the Army Corps of Engineers, regarding the Corps' remediation of the missile site. We will continue to work closely with our partners in local government to monitor the Corps' ongoing progress."