A wave of concerns from Barron Park residents has prompted Palo Alto officials to take a fresh look at the toxic chemicals at Communication and Power Industries, a company whose Stanford Research Park facility stands right next to the residential neighborhood.
The City Council had planned to meet in closed session Monday night, March 5, to discuss the threat of toxic leak from CPI's plating operation and consider legal action against the company. But the council decided to instead schedule a public hearing next month to hear residents' concerns and deliberate the city's next course of action.
The public hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for April 16, will be the next chapter in the residents' long battle against CPI, which is located at 811 Hansen Way. The company, which specializes in microwave and radio-frequency equipment, has been facing increased scrutiny from its neighbors since 2006, when a gas leak sent nitric-acid fumes through Barron Park. In 2008, another leak had sent 40 to 50 gallons of water containing copper and nickel into Matadero Creek.
"We simply do not believe CPI can safely operate a plating shop in this location," Jeff Dean, who lives near the company's site, told the council Monday. "The facility is too close to our homes."
Doug Moran, president of the Barron Park Residents Association, agreed and told the council that the company is "literally over the fence from people's homes." Moran said CPI has taken some safety measures, including storing fewer materials at its base and having more frequent shipments. This, however, only creates an opportunity for different sorts of risks.
"I urge you to remember that there is a very real risk," Moran said. "That this is a hazmat operation that has been moved next to us."
Kriss Deiglmeier, executive director of the Center for Social Innovation at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a Barron Park resident, also warned the council about the danger of ignoring the problem. The neighborhood is already in what she called an "earthquake hotbed." When coupled with toxic chemicals and the prospect of human error, the prospect of a huge disaster striking is very real, she said.
"This is a decision that entails the health and life of real people -- me, my husband, my neighbors and my children," Deiglmeier said.
Palo Alto officials have long been considering ways to phase out CPI's hazardous-material operation but progress so far has been slow. The city had recently hired a consultant to evaluate the possibility of relocating the plant elsewhere and to consider an amortization plan that would allow CPI to recoup some of the costs of the potential move.
The company has made it clear in the past that it plans to remain in its current facility, which was rebuilt in 2005.
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Comments
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Mar 6, 2012 at 7:53 pm
on Mar 6, 2012 at 7:53 pm
CPI/Varian has operated a plating shop here for how many years? And so far they have had two accidents? Or are there more that need to be added to the list?
This matter has been in the public’s eye for a while, but so far, all we have heard is a lot of complaining—but no real evidence of any harm to anyone in the neighborhood.
The following two items appear in the Weekly’s archive--
CPI to install early-detection system:
Web Link
> She said the county hasn't had any enforcement actions against CPI.
Seems that the County did not have a beef with CPI when this article was published. How about since that time?
SC County critical of CPI's risk-management plan
Web Link
So .. CPI said they were going to install some new safety equipment a couple years ago. Did they? And the County didn’t like their risk-management plan a few years ago. Has it been modified, and now meets with County/City/State approvals?
And what about a failure analysis of the CPI operation. Has anyone determined the worst case scenario for this operation, in terms of release of toxic/dangerous materials?
And then there is the issue of insurance. Anyone checked CPI’s liability insurance to see if they can cover $20M-$30M in damages?
Barron Park
on Mar 7, 2012 at 5:13 am
on Mar 7, 2012 at 5:13 am
If I didn't want to deal with CPI, I would of thought about all the cons before buying my house. Company was there way before alot of us. Think people should do more research where they're moving next to before moving in.
Registered user
Barron Park
on Mar 7, 2012 at 3:00 pm
Registered user
on Mar 7, 2012 at 3:00 pm
"PA neighbor" is factually wrong. In my comments to Council, I pointed out that 2/3s of the current properties on Chimalus had home in 1950, before the Research Park was created. And the massive increase in HazMat occurred in 2004-2005 when CPI consolidated their operations by closing down their operation in a San Carlos industrial park and moving it to the Stanford Research Park. Residents were NOT notified of this change. And it is a _Research_ Park, not an _Industrial_ Park. And even in Industrial Parks, HazMat operations are sited to accommodate the potential for releases.
Not only have the neighbors not been notified of the risks, they have had trouble getting that info when they have actively and repeated sought it.
So "PA neighbor" apparently believes that the residents who have lived nearby from before the SRP was created (and there are multiple such) should have done research and determined that in subsequent decades that Stanford might create the SRP and allow HazMat operations 55 feet from houses.
And he apparently believes that someone who bought their homes in the 1990s, 1980s,... should have researched Varian/CPI and discovered that they had HazMat operations at other locations and should have anticipated that they might move it next to their house.
I have written this because from previous iterations on this issue, I know that "PA neighbor" is hardly alone in his fact-free, stupidity-riddled ideological position, and willing to post it here because anonymity shields him from being shamed.
"Ideology: For the intellectually lazy and incompetent"
Barron Park
on Mar 7, 2012 at 11:14 pm
on Mar 7, 2012 at 11:14 pm
"PA Neighbor": My house was built in 1949 and I've worked in the research park since 2002. I certainly was never informed that Varian/CPI was going to store hazardous materials next to where I live and work. I also have no idea why the city council allowed this to happen or why they've been dragging their heals at rectifying the situation.