Air Quality | Baseline Environmental Consulting

Environmental Compliance Monitoring

Baseline geologists, scientists, and engineers have been assisting clients with CEQA Mitigation Monitoring during project construction activities for years. We have experience monitoring a wide range of construction activities, including noise, dust and air quality, excavated soil management, and stormwater runoff. Baseline also performs air monitoring for remediation projects to ensure that emissions of contaminated dust and/or volatile organic compounds do not pose a health risk to the surrounding community. Baseline has provided environmental compliance monitoring of over 25 construction projects in the City of Berkeley since 2021.

3rd Party Peer Review of Environmental Studies

Baseline routinely performs 3rd part peer review of environmental technical studies for the Cities of Berkeley, Cupertino, Orinda, and Saratoga. The purposes of the reviews are to determine if the studies comply with local regulatory requirements (CEQA MMRP, conditions of approval, and ordinances) and minimize potential environmental risks. For example, Baseline reviews Phase I/II Environmental Site Assessments prepared by developers in the City of Cupertino to ensure site contamination is properly evaluated and cleaned up prior to development.

Examples of Environmental Monitoring Projects

Berkeley Environmental Compliance Monitoring

Baseline has an on-call contract to provide environmental compliance and mitigation monitoring assistance for the City of Berkeley and has provided services for over 25 construction projects, including mixed-use developments, office buildings, and research and development (R&D) facilities. For example, the Berkeley Commons Project consisted of demolishing buildings on an approximately 8.4-acre industrial site to construct an R&D campus containing two buildings over 470,000 square feet and two parking structures with approximately 940 parking spaces. Baseline’s scope of work includes reviewing and ensuring that each project implements applicable mitigation measures identified under CEQA to reduce potential environmental impacts and/or comply with existing regulations.

Baseline also reviews and identifies all conditions of approval associated with use permits issued by the City to ensure implementation and compliance.
Similarly, Baseline supports the City by reviewing developer submittals, project permits, and building permit applications against environmental requirements to ensure the documents are adequate and accurate. During construction, Baseline performs environmental field inspections to ensure that the project complies with applicable use permit conditions of approval and CEQA mitigation measures. The inspections often focus on noise mitigation measures and air quality control measures. In addition, Baseline assists the City in reviewing bi-weekly submittals of construction noise and vibration monitoring reports in accordance with Construction Noise Management Plans and Vibration Impact Assessments.

Sanborn County Park Remediation Project

In 1994, the County of Santa Clara Department of Parks and Recreation (County Parks) acquired the 57-acre Christensen property located within the eastern portion of Sanborn County Park. The site was formerly used as a commercial nursery that resulted in widespread pesticide contamination. In 2001, an undocumented landfill was discovered on the site consisting of household‐ and light industrial‐ wastes associated with the former nursery. In 2023, a Remedial Excavation Workplan for the former nursery site was approved by the SCCDEH.

Baseline was hired by County Parks to provide environmental monitoring and confirmation sampling during remedial excavation at the former nursery site. Baseline identified various aspects of the Remedial Excavation Workplan that could be modified to achieve the site cleanup objectives more effectively and significantly reduce the remediation scope/costs.

In April 2024, Baseline prepared a Remedial Excavation Workplan Addendum that significantly reduced the amount of remediation that was required by performing an analysis of naturally occurring background concentrations of vanadium at the Site. This background metals analysis supported the elimination of several excavation areas that were proposed to address vanadium concentrations which were naturally occurring. Later in the remediation process, Baseline modified cleanup goals for pesticides based on an ecological risk assessment. During remediation, Baseline collected confirmation samples from excavations and stockpiles for waste characterization purposes, recorded and mapped excavation limits and confirmation sample locations, and characterized previously unidentified soil contamination beneath the undocumented landfill area. Baseline provided recommendations for stockpile segregation, waste disposal, and additional excavation based on sampling results and coordinated closely with County Park, the remediation contractor, and SCCDEH throughout the remediation process. Baseline prepared a Remedial Excavation Completion Report which was approved by SCCDEH with no comments.

Former Oakland Army Base Compliance Monitoring

In 2021, Baseline oversaw remedial excavation of lead contaminated soil at the Former Oakland Army Base in an area identified as RMP Location 167B. The soil had very high levels of lead which classified much of the soil as federal hazardous waste. The elevated lead in soil appeared to correlate with a red material observed in the soil that was suspected to be related to historical ship maintenance activities in the area.
Baseline performed air monitoring for dust and lead and collected confirmation soil samples during the initial excavation activities. Although the planned excavation area had been horizontally delineated by samples collected prior to the start of excavation, the observation of red material in an excavation sidewall and confirmation sampling results necessitated further investigation and remediation. Multiple rounds of additional investigation and a second round of remedial excavation were performed in 2021 until physical restraints prevented further excavation.
In 2024, Baseline performed additional investigation activities to delineate the extent of lead impacted soil to the west of the previously remediated area. The impacts from lead were found to extend beneath an occupied building that was packed full of equipment and heavy objects that could not be moved, and the presence of other physical constraints (e.g., a wash rack structure and utilities) further complicated the sampling effort. Baseline successfully delineated the extent of lead impacted soil which required strategic selection of sample locations and collection of step-out samples that were placed on hold and analyzed as needed to accurately define the extent of contamination.
Baseline developed proposed excavation limits and performed waste characterization analysis to pre-classify the soil for waste disposal from the various excavation cells. All remediation and investigation activities were performed under the oversight of DTSC, and Baseline completed the project on-time and under budget.