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City Council Meeting: November 25, 2008
Agenda Item: `~
To: Mayor and .City Council
From: Lee E. Swain, Director of Public Works
Subject: Charnock Well Field Restoration Project
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. adopt a resolution to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report;
2. adopt a resolution making necessary California Environmental Quality Act
findings and approving a Mitigation Monitoring Program (MMP); and
3. approve the proposed. project for the Charnock Well Field Restoration Project
subject to the MMP.
Executive Summary
The Charnock Well Field Restoration Project involves implementation of a water
treatment system to remove groundwater contamination from -the Charnock
groundwater sub-basin and restore this resource as a water supply for the City.
Improvements are proposed at two existing City-operated water service facilities; the
Charnock WeII Field site and the Santa Monica Water Treatment Plant. The proposed
improvements include a new water treatment system at the Charnock site and upgrades
to the water treatment process at the Santa Monica Water Treatment Plant (SMWTP) to
soften, disinfect and fluoridate water. The improvements will provide a multiple barrier
treatment process to remove contaminants from groundwater. In accordance with the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), an Environmental Impact Report (EIR)
was prepared to summarize the characteristics of the proposed project. The EIR
addresses the potential environmental effects of the project, identifies possible ways to
minimize the significant effects, and describes reasonable alternatives to the project.
The EIR concluded that, with the implementation of mitigation measures, all potential
significant environmental impacts of the proposed project can be reduced to a level that
is considered less than significant.
Background
The City of Santa Monica's public drinking water system directly serves all residents,
businesses and visitors. Historically, the City utilized local sources of groundwater for
approximately 75% of the City's drinking water supply. In 1996, all five City water wells
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at the Charnock Well Field were shut down due to MTBE contamination from leakirig
underground gasoline storage tanks owned by various oil companies. At that time, the
Charnock Well Field provided approximately 50% of the City's drinking water. Since
then, the City has relied on imported water from the Metropolitan Water District of
Southern California (MWD) to meet customer demand while the process to mitigate the
contamination of the Charnock sub-basin was addressed. At the present time, MWD
supplies approximately 75% of the City's drinking water. Following litigation, a
settlement agreement was reached between the City and various oil companies in
December 2003. The terms included the formation of a Charnock Engineering
Committee with representatives of the City and the oil companies to coordinate and
direct the design, construction, and operation of a treatment facility to restore the
Charnock Well Field. In December 2006, a subsequent Settlement Agreement gave the
City of Santa Monica sole oversight of the restoration of the Charnock WeII Field.
Thereafter, City staff developed a methodology for the restoration of the Charnock wells
which accelerates the design, construction, and operation of water treatment facilities at
the Charnock Well Field site and the Santa Monica Water Treatment Plant. It is
anticipated that water from the new treatment facilities will be delivered to the
community by the end of 2010.
Discussion
The Charnock Well Field Restoration .Project involves implementation of a water
treatment system and other improvements that remove contamination from
groundwater. Improvements are proposed at both the Charnock Well Field and the
Santa Monica Water Treatment Plant. These two existing City owned and operated
water service facilities are located in the City of Los Angeles.
The Charnock Well Field site encompasses a 10-acre parcel located at 11375
Westminster Avenue in the Palms-Mar Vista-Del Rey Community area. This facility is
located adjacent to Windward School, which leases its land from the City, and a
residential neighborhood to the south. It is bounded by Sawtelle Boulevard tb the east,
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Westminster Avenue to the south, Butler Avenue to the west and the Westwood Flood
Control Channel to the north.
The improvements proposed at the Charnock Well Field site involve the installation of a
Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) adsorption s((~~stem to treat contaminated groundwater
from three (3) wells within the Charnock~ll~ield. The proposed well head treatment ~`
system will have a capacity of 3,000 gallons per minute and will consist of five rows that
contain three vessels each. The first vessel is a greensand filter to remove iron and
manganese particles followed by two GAC contactors in series to remove organic
compounds such as MTBE. In addition to the vessels, the site will contain various
tanks, pumps, piping and buildings for chemical feed and storage, control systems,.
maintenance and operations. The primary maintenance component includes
backwashing the filters and change out of the GAC. Change out of the spent GAC is
anticipated to occur six (6) to twelve(12) times per year. During a change out, the spent
GAC will be transferred to a bulk trailer and exchanged with fresh GAC. The same
truck will be used to deliver fresh GAC and haul away spent GAC. The GAC adsorption
system is projected to operate for seven (7) to ten (10) years to mitigate the MTBE
contamination.
The SMWTP site encompasses a 4.8 acre parcel located at 1228 S. Bundy Drive in
west Los Angeles. The facility is bordered by Saltair Avenue on the east, Texas
Avenue on the south and is just south of Wilshire Boulevard. The facility is located
within a predominantly residential neighborhood, with commercial businesses and office
buildings located to the north.
The objectives of the SMWTP are to soften, provide disinfection and add fluoride to the
water. The upgraded SMWTP treatment facility will have a capacity of 7,000 gallons
per minute. The proposed improvements include demolition of three onsite structures
and implementation of a greensand filtration facility, reverse osmosis facility, air striping
decarbonators, chemical storage and feed facilities for disinfection and fluoridation and
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electrical upgrades. The treatment process includes filtration using greensand filters to
remove .iron and manganese and a softening system utilizing reverse osmosis
membrane technology. The reverse osmosis process forces water through a semi-
permeable membrane under pressure, while salts and other dissolved solids are
retained. This process is proposed to be housed in a new building adjacent to Saltair
Avenue. The reverse osmosis softening option offers increased public health protection
from various contaminants that can be present in groundwater supply providing a
multiple barrier treatment for MTBE and. other contaminants. A detailed description of
the characteristics of the proposed project and the significant environmental impacts,
mitigation measures, and residual impacts associated with the proposed project are
included in the Final EIR (Attachment 1).
Environmental Analysis
On March 24, 2008, the City circulated a .Notice of Intent to Adopt a Negative
Declaration and an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) for the
proposed project. The IS/MND was circulated fora 30-day public review period. Based
on the input received,. the City re-examined the project and elected to prepare an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR). In accordance with the CEQA Guidelines, an EIR
was prepared for the project and a Notice of Preparation was distributed to affected
agencies and the public fora 30-day period on May 20, 2008. A public scoping meeting
was held at Windward School on June 12, 2008, to receive comments on the scope of
the EIR for. the proposed project. Written and verbal comments on the intended scope
and focus of the EIR were received. The issues identified by the scoping process
included: aesthetic impacts of tall structures, cultural resources, air quality impacts,
operational noise, operational truck impacts, presence of chemicals/hazardous
materials, groundwater pumping effects, City of Los Angeles permit oversight, pumping
Charnock water to SMWTP, construction hours, relocating project to a Santa Monica
location, and additional groundwater contamination. The EIR addresses the issues
identified during the scoping process that were determined to be potentially significant
including: aesthetics, construction, geology, hazards and hazardous .materials,
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hydrology and water quality; neighborhood, and noise. The EIR examines these issues
and identifies the potentially significant environmental impacts, including site-specific
and cumulative effects, of the project. In addition, the EIR recommends feasible
mitigation measures, where possible, that would eliminate or reduce adverse
environmental effects of the project. All potential significant environmental impacts
were eliminated or reduced to below a level of significance. In addition to the proposed
project, the EIR evaluated alternatives that are capable of avoiding or substantially
lessening the significant environmental effects of the proposed project. A range of
reasonable alternatives were developed including:
Alternative 1; No Project
® Alternative 2: Reduced Project Profile Alternative
® Alternative 3: Equipment Housing Alternative
® Alternative 4: Alternative Site (Move the Charnock treatment facility to the
SMWTP)
The "No Project" alternative would eliminate potential environmental impact associated
with the proposed .project; however, the importation of drinking water would continue
and the local groundwater would remain contaminated and unusable. This alternative
achieves none of the project objectives. The "Reduced Project Profile" alternative
would reduce the visual impact at the cost of increasing the construction effects
because of the excavation and removal of soil. The "Equipment Housing" alternative
would eliminate the view of the vessels, but replace it with a rectangular building that
may be considered a greater visual impact by viewers. This alternative would also
increase the construction effects of air pollution emissions, noise, and temporary traffic
congestion. The "Alternative Site" alternative would reduce local effects at the
Charnock facility but it relocates those same effects to the existing SMWTP. In
summary, none of the alternatives, including the "No Project" alternative, is clearly
superior to the proposed project with the recommended mitigation measures.
A Public Notice of Availability for the Draft EIR was published on August 18, 2008 and
the Draft EIR was circulated fora 45-day public review period from August 18, 2008 to
October 1, 2008. Seven written comments were received on the Draft EIR. The
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responses to comments are included in the Final EIR. The EIR identified potentially.
significant impacts of the proposed project in the areas of aesthetics effects, geology,
hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, and noise and
recommended mitigation measures to reduce significant environmental impacts. As
stated, with the adoption of recommended mitigation measures, the EIR determined that
impacts of the proposed project in all areas could be reduced to less than significant
levels.
During the CEQA process, staff continued to review and develop the specific design
details for both the Charnock and SMWTP facilities based on input received during the
public review process on the Draft EIR, specific site characteristics and technical design
parameters. As a result, more detailed design information has become available since
circulation of the Draft EIR. An updated project description and a comparison of the
environmental impacts associated with the updated design concept was prepared and.
included in the Final EIR. At the Charnock location, modifications to the proposed
project include lowering the 'profile and reducing the number and height of filtration
vessels and onsite tanks by placing some facilities underground. The updated project
description results in additional onsite demolition and grading and an extended
construction period of approximately three months.. This design modification is
generally consistent with input received during the public review period which suggested
lowering the profile of the project to reduce the visual effects and to be more consistent
with the visual character of the surrounding neighborhood. It is also a variation of the
"Reduced Project Profile" alternative examined in the Draft EIR.
At the SMWTP, the updated project description reflects the selection of the reverse
osmosis technology as the preferred treatment technology at this facility and provides
greater detail on the design elements of implementing that technology at the existing
facility. The proposed improvements are consistent with those described in the Draft
EIR. The revised project proposed at both. locations was analyzed for each of the
environmental issues studied in the Draft EIR. The revised project does not result in
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any new significant impacts, substantial increases to impacts or impact classifications
identified in the- Draft EIR, or new mitigation requirements for Charnock and SMWTP
components of the proposed project
Therefore, staff recommends that prior. to approving the project, City Council adopt a
Resolution to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report (Attachment 2); and adopt a
Resolution making necessary CEQA findings and approving a Mitigation Monitoring
Program (Attachment 3).
Public Outreach
During the CEQA process all environmental review documents were available on the
City's website and copies were available at various public facilities. Notices of the
availability of environmental documents were published in the Santa Monica Daily Press
and the Argonaut. Public outreach efforts included mailing of informational notices to
the surrounding community and numerous public meetings with the neighbors adjacent
to the project sites.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
The recommendations presented in the report do not have a budget or financial impact.
Staff anticipates returning to Council in May 2009 for further Council consideration of
this project, including establishing a Guaranteed Maximum Price for project
construction.
Prepared by:
Spiros Lazaris, Civil Engineer
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Approved: Forwarded to Council:
Lee E. Swain `~F~I ~mont Ewell / / T
Director, Department of Public Works City Manager ~
Attachments: 1. Final Environmental Impact Report
2. Resolution to Certify the Final Environmental Impact Report
3. Resolution making necessary CEQA findings and approving
a Mitigation. Monitoring Program
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Reference Resolution Nos.
10362 (CCS) & 10363
(CCS).