PG&E conducts toxic cleanup in Chinatown

A new kind of cleanup in the city of Salinas follows a sweep of a homeless encampment in Chinatown. Pacific Gas and Electric is teaming up with the city of Salinas to eliminate a potential toxic presence where an old factory used to be.

The area of 2 and 4 Bridge Street contains two parcels of land partially owned by PG&E where a gas plant once operated in the late 1800s. While the plant was dismantled in the 1930s, Unocal bought the site in the ’60s to store gasoline, and a hole was discovered in one of the huge underground tanks, spilling gas and toxins into the soil.

While much of that was cleaned up at the time, PG&E said they have not been able to get equipment onto the site recently with a large homeless encampment on the property. But with the recent sweeps of that area, PG&E was able to get in Monday to begin the new cleanup of the sludge. Both PG&E and the city of Salinas said the toxins aren’t a threat to the immediate area.

“It’s not something that we’re breathing every day… but I wouldn’t live on the property, you can’t sell the property for housing or other private development until the known polluter, PG&E in this case, remediates the problem. So really, right now, it’s just a stumbling block, a barrier to invite private investment into Chinatown,” said Don Reynolds, Assistant Public Works Director for the city of Salinas.

There is no immediate timeline on how long this cleanup will take. When the cleanup is complete, both PG&E and the city of Salinas said they will begin planning for the redevelopment of the Chinatown area, which could include a significant amount of low-income housing.