Draft Environmental Impact Report - California Off Highway Vehicle ...

3.10 Hazards and Hazardous Materials
3.10 Hazards and Hazardous Materials
This section presents details about the existing setting and the regulatory setting for hazards and
hazardous materials. It also presents an analysis of hazards and hazardous materials impacts that
would result from implementing the Clay Pit SVRA General Plan, including constructing and
operating headquarters facilities.
3.10.1 Existing Setting
Section 2.4.2, “Public Safety,” of the General Plan includes a description of the emergency services
available to Clay Pit SVRA and supplements other setting information provided below.
Hazardous Materials
Hazardous materials can be defined as items, substances, or chemicals that are health hazards or
physical hazards and/or can cause harm to people, plants, or animals when released into the
environment. Hazardous materials may be released into the environment through spilling,
pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or
disposal. The use of hazardous materials is common in many commercial, industrial, and
manufacturing activities, and in general household use. Hazardous materials require special
methods of disposal, storage, and treatment. Common hazardous materials currently used within
Clay Pit SVRA include gasoline and oil products used for vehicle and OHV operations.
In December 2010, a search of the Cortese List database (described below in Section 3.10.2,
“Regulatory Setting”) was performed by AECOM for the vicinity of the Clay Pit SVRA (DTSC 2007;
SWRCB 2010). No documented hazardous materials release sites are located within the SVRA.
There are seven known hazardous materials release sites within 1 mile of the SVRA, all located to
the north of the site on Oroville Municipal Airport property. The status of three of the sites is
“completed‐closed,” meaning a formal closure decision document has been issued for these sites.
Three sites, located 0.8 mile north of the SVRA, are classified “open‐site assessment,” meaning
these sites are under investigation. One site, located approximately 900 feet north of the SVRA, is
classified “open‐inactive,” indicating that no regulatory oversight activities are being conducted by
the lead agency. Contamination at the three sites classified “open‐assessment” stems from former
Army and Air Force activities on the site, and contamination consists of lead in the soils and other
unspecified materials. Contamination at the single site located 900 feet to the north of the SVRA
stems from diesel contamination in surface water.
Airport Safety
The Butte County Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan (ALUCP) (Butte County 2000) describes
compatibility zones surrounding airports in Butte County. These compatibility zones have
compatibility criteria, which are policies and restrictions that minimize potential hazards around
airports. These criteria address issues such as maximum population density, land use intensity,
Clay Pit State Vehicular Recreation Area
Draft EIR 3.10-1 February 2012