Potter
Creek and Hazardous Material
Responsible
use, storage, and maintenance of hazardous materials in Potter
Creek becomes more and more important as our density increases
with more live and work-live units. Not only are we experiencing
greater density but often this increase is in living spaces occupied
by families. There was a time when children were never seen or
heard here -- something of which my Grandpa would have approved.
But now, in addition to the playing school children, there are
many residents out walking and playing with their families even
during the week-workdays. Hazardous materials cannot be viewed
today as they were only a few years ago. Recently I went over
to a neighbor's around 10th Street for a visit. After some photos
and conversation we went up to the third floor sun-deck. There,
we had a panoramic view of Potter Creek and west-Berkeley. But
on this warm Spring day what was more notable than the weather
was the awkward proximity of businesses and residences. This was
made all the more apparent by their neighbor's paint-booth exhaust
system, a mere fifteen feet, up-wind from the deck. "Does
that bother you?' I asked. "No, we only smell paint when
it's on" he offered in denial.
The California
Health and Safety Code (which is incorporated by reference into
the Berkeley Municipal Code) defines a Hazardous Material as:
"Hazardous
material" means any material that, because of its quantity,
concentration, or physical or chemical characteristics, poses
a significant present or potential hazard to human health and
safety or to the environment if released into the workplace or
the environment. "Hazardous materials" include, but
are not limited to, hazardous substances, hazardous waste, and
any material which a handler or the administering agency has a
reasonable basis for believing that it would be injurious to the
health and safety of persons or harmful to the environment if
released into the workplace or the environment.
My first
run through of the City of Berkeley list of over four hundred
hazardous material users has yielded about sixty users in our
neighborhood -- the area from the RR Tracks to San Pablo and Ashby
to Dwight. This is an area five blocks wide and six blocks long,
or thirty square blocks. We have roughly two users of hazardous
material per square block, and we are home to about 15% of all
the hazardous material users in the City of Berkeley. The
figures are preliminary. Also, it is important to remember that
this is a list of users and does not address responsible or irresponsible
use, and the nature of the hazardous material is not listed. It
may be benign -- it may not. Finally, this City of Berkeley list
does not reflect unregistered users.
POTTER CREEK
Registered hazardous
material users will be represented by red dots.
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