Army Corps left Lincoln community with unanswered questions Tuesday about contamination

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in a presentation at Tuesday's City Council meeting about the contaminated Lincoln Titan 1 Missile Site, answered some questions from community members but also left many questions unanswered. The former missile site at 401 Oak Tree Lane was in operations from 1962 to 1965. Since 1991, a trichloroethylene (TCE) plume moved from the missile site to properties across the street. The plume is now moving from the Crocker Knoll property to the Sun City Lincoln Hills border of Snapdragon Lane and Prunella Court. Three representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), a representative from Congressman Kevin Kiley's office and Placer County Supervisor Shanti Landon were at the meeting Tuesday. Mayor Paul Joiner and councilwoman Holly Andreatta were not there because they were at the annual Cap-to-Cap program and advocacy conference in Washington, D.C. Concerns about the Lincoln site's contamination grew within the community 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. Those stories and subsequent stories highlight the missile 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. Prior to Tuesday's presentation, Lincoln Vice-Mayor Dan Karleskint, who filled in for Joiner, read a disclaimer about the types of public responses that would be allowed after the Army Corps presentation. "This is not an agenda item where we accept comments on the action being contemplated," Karleskint said. "This is not a forum or workshop where we solicit thoughts on future actionable agenda items." Karleskint added that the Army Corps is in the process of setting up a public forum some time in May. The Army Corps Powerpoint presentation lasted about 20 minutes and was given by its project manager, Tim Crummett; technical lead Matthew Marlatt and public affairs specialist Tyler Stalker. The presentation aimed to convince Tuesday's meeting attendees that the plume is safe but some audience members voiced their skepticism to their statements. "Data tells us that nearby residences are not being exposed to TCE vapors and there is no evidence of TCE reaching nearby neighborhoods," Stalker said. "There is no imminent danger to surrounding communities." The Army Corps representatives said there's no imminent danger and talked about progress they have made toward cleanup, such as a preliminary assessment of the site in 2018 and recently sending notices to 450 residents residing near the missile site about forming a restoration advisory board. The Army Corps is still in the investigation phase, according to Crummett, and it's "too early to say when we'll get to remedial action." The Army Corps presented a timeline for the process of remedial action that showed a remedial design not in the works until 2026. Crummett said the agency is "currently focused on completing the requisite studies to make a determination regarding the type and timing of mitigation strategies." At the end of the presentation, more than 25 community members from Sun City Lincoln Hills stepped up to the podium with questions for the Army Corps. Because of "time," the Army Corps representatives said, they could not answer every individual question. Instead, they collected answers and answered a fraction of them at the end. One Sun City Lincoln resident asked, "Why is so much money being spent on investigation instead of cleaning up the site?" Another resident asked, "How deep are the wells and how can they be certain that TCE hasn't spread after the recent rainstorms in Placer County?" A community member asked if there was an "option to install preventive measures to prevent spreading" at Snapdragon Lane. There were many questions asked about the effects of TCE to human health and the environment. Other audience members asked about the effect of TCE contamination on property values and what kind of disclosures would be needed to sell their property. To the question about the depth of the wells, Marlatt said, "I can't recall how deep the silos are. It's published in our documents somewhere readily available but I can't answer that now." Marlatt added that the wells are "roughly 30 feet deep." In response to the request for preventative measures, Crummett said, "The hazard is not worth spending the funds." When asked if the Army Corps could verify that the TCE is spreading, there was an awkward momentary silence before Marlatt responded by saying there wasn't any TCE near Sun City Lincoln Hills detected in 2001 but there are "low levels now." Most of the answers to community questions were deferred to the not yet scheduled public forum next month. Stalker said some lack of responses about the risks of TCE were due to not having their team toxicologist in attendance but that person would be at the not yet scheduled forum in May. The Army Corps representatives left soon after their presentation. At the end of Tuesday's meeting, Landon said she would look into what kind of disclosures are needed for homes near the TCE contaminated site. Lincoln Councilman Bill Lauritsen said he was still concerned about the spread of TCE. Lauritsen is on a grassroots committee of Sun City Lincoln Hills residents who are trying to get the Army Corps to remediate the plume. "I want to thank everyone for the presentation. It was a good presentation," Lauritsen said. "As the councilman who represents the district where the Titan site is located, I think it's very important to have disclosure. The Army Corps is saying that it's stable and hasn't grown but can we at least admit that it's spreading? Because I'm looking at the map and it certainly looks like it's spreading."