UBLIC HEARING: Director of Development ... - City of Glendale

REDEVELOPMENT PLAN IMPACTS
4. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ANALYSIS
4.7. RISK OF UPSET
The Program EIR defines significance thresholds for the risk of upset as the
following: 49
"Impacts are considered significant if the project will result in 1) an unusual or unique
risk of explosion or the release of hazardous substances in the event of accident or upset
conditions; 2) possible interference with an emergency response or emergency evacuation
plan; 3) creation of potential health hazards to people or animal or plant populations in
the area affected; 4) locating potentially hazardous facilities in proximity to sensitive
receptors such as schools, day care facilities, hospitals, and convalescent homes."
Potential ris.k of upset issues identified in the Redevelopment Area include underground
storage tanks (UST), hazardous material transport, and urban fires. There are 13 USTs within
the Redevelopment Area, of which seven were contaminated and were being cleaned up at the
time that the Program EIR was completed. The sites were contaminated either due to leakage
or spills. Although the entire Redevelopment Area lies within a "vulnerability zone," defined
by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency as an area where people may be exposed to
health hazards in the event of accidental releases of hazardous materials from activities within
or adjacent to that area, this is considered a normal condition for industrial districts. Any
Redevelopment Plan sites which have been occupied by uses which pose potential risks of
contamination will ·be examined and appropriate remediation will be identified and implemented
prior to new development. The Redevelopment Plan itself does not represent an unusual or
unique risk of explosion or release of hazardous substances.50 Section 4.3, Water
(Hydrology), includes an analysis of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Superfund project to remediate groundwater contamination in the Redevelopment Area.
The potential for transportation accidents involving the transport of hazardous material
also presents a risk to the Redevelopment Area. Some designated uses within the
Redevelopment Area include the use and transport of hazardous materials. State and Federal
49 Program EIR, Final EIR Volume, page 3.7-6.
50 Ibid, page 3.7-7.
Planning Consulranu Research
Glendale Redevelopment Agency
Page 60
DreamWorks Animation CamPIIS Addendum EIR
June 1996