Nov 26 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Daniel Thigpen The Record, Stockton, Calif.


Consider it a lesson in watching where those decimal points go.

The city of Lodi may avoid a costly contamination cleanup at the site of a proposed power plant after it was discovered that an engineering consultant's report -- which appeared to show unsafe levels of pollutants tested in the soil -- was inaccurate.

It turns out that when the consultant -- CH2MHILL of Sacramento -- transcribed its lab results into a spreadsheet, it didn't convert the measurements to the appropriate unit, according to city documents.

Thus, measurements showing unsafe levels of metals, pesticides and combustion byproducts were off by a factor of 1,000.

"We deeply regret any inconvenience this mistake has caused," a project manager wrote in an Oct. 6 letter to the state Department of Toxic Substances and Control. The agency was to oversee the planned cleanup, which the city had estimated to cost anywhere from $320,000 to $1.3 million.

"Everyone we've worked with ... has been very upfront and understanding," about resolving the mistake, said Lodi City Attorney Steve Schwabauer.

The Northern California Power Agency, a consortium of public utilities including Lodi, has proposed a 255-megawatt natural gas power plant near Lodi's sewage treatment plant, west of I-5 and south of Highway 12. The $432 million plant, still pending approval from state regulators, would produce energy for Lodi and 13 other municipalities, including the California Department of Water Resources and the Modesto Irrigation District.

CH2MHILL is the NCPA's engineering consultant on the power plant and performed the preliminary tests on the 4.4-acre parcel that appeared to show the pollution. State regulators ordered a cleanup because the soil was thought to pose a possible hazard to construction workers.

The mistake, however, was revealed when the city did further testing in preparation for the cleanup. The lab results didn't match up with CH2MHILL's.

The NCPA already had planned to front the cleanup expenses in lieu of future lease payments to the city and recycled water purchases in the first years the power plant is operated.

City officials are awaiting formal word from state regulators that the cleanup is now unnecessary.

Contact reporter Daniel Thigpen at (209) 546-8254 or dthigpen@recordnet.com

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