Long-Term Environmental Work on the Emeryville Public Market in Bay Area

By Erin Chapman, Senior Marketing Coordinator (PES Environmental Inc., an NV5 company)

PES Environmental (PES), an NV5 company, is the prime consultant leading a full-scale environmental team to provide several developer and real estate investment clients at and near the Public Market in Emeryville, California. PES has provided site investigations and assessments, air quality, water quality, hazardous materials, environmental management systems, and environmental engineering services.

PES was first retained for environmental assessment services in the mid-1990s by The Martin Group, which performed the initial redevelopment, followed by a development team from TMG Partners & Rockwood Capital, which developed a LEED Platinum, walkable, transit-oriented community. In recent years, PES worked with Essex Property Trust, City Center Realty Partners, AvalonBay Communities, and Oxford Properties, which bought the 148,000 sf Public Market for an estimated $120M last year. The property is now a thriving, mixed-use residential, retail, food, office, and public lab space.

The Public Market property was historically at the edge of San Francisco Bay, on tidal mud flats. The area was reclaimed from the bay by infilling. Will Mast, PG, has been involved in the project site since 2004. He says:

The site was along the former shoreline, which is now covered with fill. The actual shoreline today is now a half-a-mile to the west. The underlying groundwater is very shallow, from three to seven feet below the surface. During soil excavation for utility trenching and foundations, the excess water had to be pumped out and disposed off site. One of the greatest challenges was because the site is built on fill, so we encountered former industrial equipment like buried pipelines; underground vaults; spilled oil; and buried wood, glass, and bricks. Elevated concentrations of lead were present throughout much of the soil fill.

Additionally, a natural process of decomposition of organic material in the marsh area caused elevated methane in the sediments. The problem is that methane can rise upwards through the soil and enter the building as gas. We designed a mitigation system to prevent the methane from entering the building and installed methane sensors and alarm systems inside new buildings.

Beginning in the late 1800s, the central portion of the site was occupied by the Paraffine Company (later named Pabco) which was involved in research and development of bituminous and petroleum-based products, asphalt refining, roof material manufacturing, and paint manufacturing. Pabco operations covered much of the subject property through the early 1900s and were discontinued in the 1960s.

Pabco made asphalt and roofing materials (and had an oil refinery on the site) and we don't know why, but part of the fill that was placed there in the past consisted of an eight-foot thick layer of roofing materials. This was over a half-acre area.

The northern portion of the property was subsequently occupied by a trucking warehouse, which included the use of several underground storage tanks containing vehicle fuel and oil.

We encountered petroleum residuals from the former oil refinery on site, trucking fueling operations, and underground leaking fuel tanks. The soil had to be disposed of off-site at a state-regulated facility.

Operations at Nielsen ceased in the early 1980s, and the buildings and related facilities were removed during redevelopment in the late 1980s. The main Public Market building dates to the early 1900s, with the office tower added in 1989, and additional new commercial and residential construction since 2014.

Currently, the PES team oversees each new project phase from initiation and the strategic planning; through permitting and implementation of the field work; analysis of the data; and the compliance reporting required by the various federal, state, and local regulatory agencies. Health and safety plans are particularly important due to active roadways and construction equipment.

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About Will Mast:

Will Mast, PG, is a Principal with PES Environmental/NV5 and has been involved in the Emeryville Public Market project site since late 2004. He is currently the Principal-In-Charge of ongoing environmental work for Oxford Properties, as part of redevelopment of the three remaining vacant parcels. Contact Will Mast: email, or call 415.899.1600.