South Bay Asbestos Area - Alviso, CA
Posted by: 
ucdvicky
N 37° 25.438 W 121° 58.531
10S E 590646 N 4142398
Asbestos contaminated ground and water around Alviso.
Waymark Code: WM3D2F
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 03/17/2008
Views: 66
"The 550-acre South Bay Asbestos Area site is located on the southern edge of the San Francisco Bay. Portions of the site served as dumping areas for over 30 years. Three landfills located within the site boundaries (the Santos Landfill, the Leslie Salt Landfill, and the Sainte Claire Corporation Landfill) received asbestos wastes from an asbestos-cement pipe manufacturing plant, located 4 miles south of the site, that operated from 1953 until 1982. Residents reportedly used waste asbestos pipe to drain excess water from their properties before curbs and gutters were installed. Several areas may have been filled with asbestos-containing soils transported in by residents to raise the elevation of their property and to improve flood protection. As a result of heavy rains in 1983, Coyote Creek flooded the site. The City of San Jose built a levee around the town to pump out the floodwater. The levee material was taken from the Raisch Quarry in southern San Jose and was later found to contain asbestos. Asbestos also was found in the Guadalupe River levee, the ring levee, and in surface soils around the town. Approximately 1,700 people live in Alviso. Most water is provided to South Bay residents through public supply systems that draw groundwater from the deep aquifer. The majority of private wells draw water from the less-protected shallow aquifer. The ring levee lies within the 100-year flood plain of the Guadalupe River and was built on portions of wetland areas adjacent to Alviso. The levee also abuts wetland areas next to a National Wildlife Refuge."
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The photo (and waymark) are from the former St. Claire Landfill. The other photo is from a stream going into the bay (located near the landfill)