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Casmalia Resources Superfund Site collection
SBHC Mss 89
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Title: Casmalia Resources Superfund Site collection
Identifier/Call Number: SBHC Mss 89
Contributing Institution:
UC Santa Barbara Library, Department of Special Research Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
20 linear feet
(20 cartons)
Date (inclusive): 1976-2011
Abstract: The Casmalia Resources Superfund Site (CRSS) is an inactive hazardous waste management facility located in the northwestern
corner of Santa Barbara County, California. The facility opened in 1973 and was used to treat and dispose of acids, bases,
organic solvents, pesticides, and oil drilling sludges. The facility stopped receiving wastes in 1989 and was subsequently
placed on the National Priorities List in 2001.
Community health concerns relating to the facility began in 1984 when the elementary school in Casmalia was closed down due
to suspicion of odors emanating from the facility. Letters from community members stemming from this event are included in
the collection. The collection also includes several studies initiated by the county and state in the mid-1980s that investigated
the impact of the facility on the local communities in Casmalia, Tanglewood, Orcutt, and Santa Maria.
The collection contains Grand Jury hearings documents, community and governmental public hearings and 501 hearings. In addition
to the public hearings, there is testimony in the form of correspondence from community members regarding the physical and
emotional impact from exposure to contaminated air. Also included are laboratory reports for the testing of ground water,
sulfur gas, pesticides/solvents, and air pollution. There are reports from various governmental agencies such as the state
of California Department of Food and Agriculture, California Department of Health Services (CDHS), and Department of Health
Services (DHS) as well as consent decrees and compliance requirements from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Similarly,
there are investigation reports from the following companies: Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Canonie Environmental, and ICF Kaiser.
Physical Location: The collection is located at the Southern Regional Library (SRLF).
Language of Material: The collection is in English.
Copyright has not been assigned to the Department of Special Research Collections, UCSB. All requests for permission to publish
or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Research Collections. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of the Department of Special Research Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which also must be obtained.
This collection is stored offsite. Advance notice is required for retrieval.
The Casmalia Resources Superfund Site, formerly the Casmalia Resources Hazardous Waste Management Facility, is an approximately
252-acre, inactive commercial hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal facility located in Santa Barbara County, California.
This Site is located 10 miles southwest of the City of Santa Maria, 1.2 miles north of the Town of Casmalia, and four miles
from the Pacific Ocean.
Between 1973 and 1989, the Site accepted approximately 5.6 billion pounds of waste into 92 waste management or treatment facilities.
These facilities included landfills, ponds, shallow wells, disposal trenches, and hazardous waste treatment units. During
its operational history, more than 10,000 businesses and government entities sent commercial hazardous waste to the Site.
The waste material accepted at the Site included sludges, pesticides, solvents, acids, metals, caustics, cyanide, and nonliquid
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The facility owners and operators were Casmalia Resources, Hunter Resources and Kenneth
H. Hunter, Jr.
Facing multiple regulatory enforcement actions, the facility's owners and operators stopped accepting shipments of waste material
in 1989. In 1991, the owners and operators abandoned any further efforts to properly close and clean up the Site. At that
time, conditions at the Site presented imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment. From 1992
to 1996, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used Superfund authorities to take emergency actions to stabilize
the various waste management or treatment facilities on the Site. These actions included installing and operating systems
for collecting, treating, and disposing of contaminated subsurface liquids, controlling the flow of storm water, and stabilizing
the landfills.
Source: United States. Environmental Protection Agency. (2013). Superfund site overview, Casmalia Resources, Pacific Southwest,
Region 9. Retrieved from http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/ViewByEPAID/CAD020748125
Processed by Suzanne Im and Yolanda Blue, 2013.
Transfer from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Robert E. Kennedy Library and Santa Maria Public Library.
[Identification of Item], Casmalia Resources Superfund Site collection, SBHC Mss 89. Department of Special Research Collections,
UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara.
The collection consists primarily of numerically arranged binders with plans, briefs, public hearings, permits, site investigations,
laboratory results, medical records, and reports relating to the Superfund response action to the Casmalia Resources Hazardous
Waste Management Facility. Also included are U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrative records and indexes, as well
as final environmental impact reports and accompanying appendices. The collection covers the period from the 1970s to 2011
with the bulk of the material ranging from 1984 to 1998.
The collection contains the following series, which are listed in alphabetical order by date:
Series I – Hearings. This series contains grand jury historical documents, public hearings, and Casmalia 501 hearings. There
are responses to HSCER/SWAT comments, court briefs, and investigation reports.
Series II – Information on hazardous materials. This series primarily contains State of California Department of Food and
Agriculture reports. Pesticide and fungicide research materials with various fact sheets about poisons and pesticides are
part of this series.
Series III – Laboratory results. This series contains air and ground water monitoring reports. Some of the reports were completed
by the Air Pollution Control District (APCD). Additionally, there are results reported by Enviromed Health Services Air Emissions
and Woodward-Clyde Consultants.
Series IV – Maps. This series contains soil chemistry sampling locations of Casmalia and a topography map.
Series V – Medical. This series contains County Health Weekly Meetings dated June 1985 – October 1985. Includes several affidavits
from Santa Barbara Medical Foundation Clinic and miscellaneous medical records.
Series VI – Miscellaneous. This series contains compliance orders from various agencies, correspondence, letters to the Community
from various agencies (EPA/APCD), and toxic materials reports.
Series VII – Newsletters. This series contains newsletters from agencies such as the California Department of Health Services
(CDHS).
Series VIII - Permits. This series contains various documents such as Zimpro Permit applications, Woodward-Clyde Consultants
applications, and CDHS Review of hazardous waste facility permits.
Series IX – Plans. This series contains plans from Canonie Enviromental, and ICF Kaiser Health and Safety. Included are revised
final construction plans and general work plans.
Series X – Reports. This series includes reports from the California Air Resources Board, Air pollution Control District (APCD),
Casmalia Community Advisory Committee (CCAC) proceedings, ICF Kaiser, Integrated Air and Meteorological Monitoring, and Zimpro.
In addition, there are various reports regarding pesticides and solvents.
Series XI – Site investigations. This series includes inspection reports from Department of Health Services (DHS), Air Pollution
Control District (APCD), and Zimpro. Notable within this series is the Casmalia Resources Site Final Remedial Investigations
Report, which contains over 1 GB of information, including topographical maps, aerial photographs, tabular data and analysis.
Other published materials on the Casmalia Resources Superfund Site are cataloged in the UCSB Library catalog. Most of these
materials are located in the local government documents collection. Users may search for these materials in the catalog using
one or more of the following LCSH subject headings:
Casmalia Resources Toxic Waste Disposal Facility.
Hazardous waste sites -- California -- Casmalia.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Hazardous waste sites -- California -- Casmalia
Hazardous waste treatment facilities -- Environmental aspects -- California -- Casmalia
Casmalia (Calif.)
Administrative records
Correspondence
Environmental impact statements
Legal documents
Technical reports
Casmalia Resources Toxic Waste Disposal Facility -- Archives
United States. Environmental Protection Agency
Superfund Program (U.S.)