Monday, Jan 3 2011 5:14PM
Funding is needed to remove arsenic and lead from the soil at an affordable housing site.
City council members in Ukiah, California, have approved lending nearly half a million dollars to a local development agency to remove contaminated soil from the site of a rural housing development.
Officials told the
Ukiah Daily Journal that the city will lend up to an additional $447,000 to the project to remove soil that was found to have high levels of both arsenic and lead, possibly from past use of pesticides at a local pear orchard.
The total cost of disposal is estimated at $647,000, with the Rural Communities Housing Development Corporation, which is building the project, contributing $200,000. Officials say that high cost is due to the fact that the soil needs to be trucked away from the site to a treatment plant in Nevada.
"Because there is no Class 1 facility in California, the closest is in Nevada," Eric Nielsen, a soil expert with SHN Consulting Engineers of Willits, told the paper.
In total, the $8.8-million project will provide 32 housing units for area families.
Arsenic contamination can pose a significant health risk. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the chemical has been found to increase the risk of a number of different cancers, as well as circulatory and nervous disorders.