Sites may become contaminated with toxic chemicals through illegal dumping or disposal, from leaking underground storage tanks, or through industrial or commercial activities.  These sites may pose a hazard to the public health & safety and the environment.  Therefore, the investigation and cleanup of these contaminated sites must be conducted under the supervision of the hazardous materials branch.  At a minimum, any investigative work shall require a work plan, site safety plan, application for site mitigation and work plan review and a fee.  Allow seven working days for processing.  Incomplete or unapproved submittals will be returned.  Approval of the work plan must be obtained before any work is started.  A letter of closure may be written by the Monterey County Environmental Health Bureau based on the findings of the investigation.

Guidelines for Mitigation

Investigation and clean-up of contaminated sites must be conducted according to the Guidelines for Site Mitigation, below.  The purpose of these guidelines is to provide a uniform procedure that can be followed to mitigate a contaminated site properly as quickly as possible.  The guidelines cover four phases of work that must be accomplished:

1. Preliminary site assessment
2. Soil and groundwater investigation
3. Corrective action implementation  
4. Verification of monitoring.

Other requirements are also discussed in the Guidelines for Site Mitigation.

All submittals must be signed by a Registered Geologist or Certified Civil Engineer for Subsurface Investigations.

For additional information about also see, the Haz Mat Monitoring Wells and Soil Boring page

Forms and worksheets

Related Links