Birthday Surprises

By Roger Funston

I’m watching traditional German folk dancing on my 70th birthday today (May 5, 2024) at a German social club in Sacramento, California. Men and women in traditional German garb perform the Maypole Dance. We arrive at the opening, spy an amazing display of desserts laid out on a table and go directly to that room. I rarely have dessert, but today I had a huge piece of Black Forest Cake, which tastes just as good as the one I had in Triberg Germany many years ago. Dessert first. This is a total splurge but, hey, it’s my birthday. After watching the folk dancing, we have a traditional German lunch- sausage sandwich, sauerkraut and German potato salad. Totally blown diet! What a wonderful birthday. I think back in time to three birthdays in the 80s that weren’t so great

Northrop Aircraft, El Segundo, California, May 5,1986

I’m the Project Manager for an environmental engineering consulting company hired to remove onsite, out-of-service underground storage tanks.  We have very little information about the current tank other than it is rectangular and constructed of concrete. It held diesel fuel that has mostly been emptied out. The tank sits adjacent to North Douglas Boulevard, a busy thoroughfare. Northrop says there are no plans showing buried utility lines in the area. Given the location, these lines almost surely exist. 

The overlying concrete is broken up and removed. The teeth of the backhoe bucket move slowly, very slowly, over the exposed surface, scratching the dirt, looking for buried utility line… and then BAM!  A hundred foot stream of water shoots into the air, completely flooding the street. Traffic stops. Total chaos. Not a good day. The backhoe tooth has made a hole in a pressurized transite water line. Then, of course, the client comes out with an underground utility map. 

Willco Landfill, City of Lynwood, California, May 5, 1987

I’m the Project Manager with another environmental consulting company hired by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, (DTSC) to oversee the removal of a municipal landfill that has existed since the 50s. Back in the 50s through the 70s, there wasn’t a lot of control over what was disposed of in municipal landfills. The concern is that the landfill contains hazardous waste. 

This landfill is directly in the path of the future intersection of the to be built 105 Freeway and the existing 710 Freeway. The California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) originally wanted to put a cap over the landfill. They were sued and after years of legal wrangling CalTrans is required to remove the entire landfill (140,000 tons) and transport this excavated material to a hazardous waste landfill in the San Joaquín Valley. 

Our job, to oversee the work being performed by CalTrans contractors. To say there is friction between CalTrans and DTSC would be a gross understatement. So one of my jobs is to be the referee between combatants. 

These were the Wild West days of hazardous waste operations. The Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) regulations had only recently been promulgated. CalTrans contracted with the low bidder, who hired workers with no hazardous waste operations experience. The workers go through the 40-hour training and then, supposedly, are trained up. Right!

Before the work starts, my team walks the site holding an organic vapor analyzer (OVAs) to identify any site chemical hazards. For protection against possible exposure, we wear a one piece tyvek suit. The top of rubber gloves are taped to the sleeves of the suit. The top of the rubber boots are taped to the bottom of the legs of the tyvek suit. We wear a full face mask over our face connected to an oxygen tank. This self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) supplies oxygen for about 30 minutes. 

We take turns going over the site that day (May 5). The temperature is in the 90s. When it is my turn, I head onto the site donned in this Level 2 attire.  Because the suit is fully enclosed, there is nowhere for perspiration to go except down back and legs and into boots. By the end of 30 minutes, I am walking In a pool of sloshing sweat. Just lovely!

Norton Air Force Base, San Bernardino, California, May 5, 1988

I’m the Project Manager, with the same environmental consulting firm, this time hired by the US  Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to conduct a Site Investigation at Norton Air Force Base (Norton or the Base) pursuant to CERCLA (Superfund) regulations. EPA had just begun asserting their right to conduct CERLA  investigations on military sites. I sit in a meeting where there is nearly a shouting match between participants. 

The site contains a number of small pits holding sludge generated by the onsite sewage treatment plant. Lead is the predominant contaminant associated with site electroplating operations. There is one pit off by itself. We ask our Base contact if something different is going on at this pit. He assures us it is just another sewage sludge pit. 

One of the challenges at military bases is that most personnel are only at the Base for a few years before they transfer elsewhere, so there is little institutional knowledge and record keeping wasn’t so great back In the day. 

So today (May 5) we are drilling into this isolated pit to collect sludge samples for analysis. The site is cordoned off to keep unauthorized personnel away. We work in Level C attire, which is the same tyvek suit with gloves and boots, but we only wear a half-face mask with filter cartridges to capture lead-laden dust particles. No supplied oxygen. The organic vapor analyzer (OVA) is running. About five feet into the sludge, a hideous odor is emitted and the OVA pegs out. You’ve never seen people bound over barriers any faster. The sample is sent to the lab and it blows out the laboratory equipment. It turns out the Base would temporarily store the most toxic stuff in this pit before hauling it off, with plenty of time for the soil to get too saturated. 

This encounter with isobutyl bad stuff convinces me that I need to find new work before my next birthday. 

Roger Funston came to writing late in life after a long career as an environmental scientist. He conducted environmental studies, developed management plans for endangered species and areas and managed the clean up of contaminated sites on four continents. An early influence was “The Lorax” by Dr. Seuss, particularly the lines-“Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing is going to change. It’s not.