Report 2020-107 Recommendation 1 Responses

Report 2020-107: California Department of Toxic Substances Control: The State's Poor Management of the Exide Cleanup Project Has Left Californians at Continued Risk of Lead Poisoning (Release Date: October 2020)

Recommendation #1 To: Toxic Substances Control, Department of

To ensure that it minimizes the exposure of children and other at-risk individuals to lead contamination, DTSC should immediately solicit a contractor to clean the 31 remaining childcare centers, parks, and schools. It should use the TCRA process to expedite this cleanup if necessary.

1-Year Agency Response

The Audit Report identified 31 childcare facilities, parks, and schools as remaining to be cleaned. These included three parks, two schools, two publicly owned childcare centers, and 24 daycare facilities operating out of residential properties. In response to the audit findings, DTSC executed a contract with National Engineering and Consulting Group Inc. on 10/28/2020 to implement Time Critical Removal Actions at the three parks, two schools, and two publicly owned childcare centers.

DTSC has completed field work at these 31 properties as described below:

Parks (3): Field work was completed at the area in front of Bell City Hall and the area in front of Bell Library on 12/11/2020, and Benito Juarez Park on 1/19/2021.

Schools (2): Field work was completed at the St. Rose of Lima School on 1/21/2021, and at the

Cristo Viene Christian School on 3/29/2021.

Childcare centers (2): Field work was completed at the Maywood Child Development Center on 1/6/2021, and Garcia Park Head Start on 3/4/2021.

Daycare Facilities (24): Field work was completed at all 24 residential daycare facilities as of 5/10/2021.

Since the Audit report, we have implemented a procedure to request a list of all daycare facilities operating in the PIA from the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division on a semiannual basis. During the most recent request from this agency, DTSC identified 31 additional daycare facilities within the cleanup area. All the newly identified daycare facilities have been evaluated, and those that have a representative soil lead concentration above 80 ppm have been prioritized for cleanup. The status of the 31 additional daycare centers is below:

26 have completed clean up.

4 do not require cleanup.

1 requires cleanup and has been prioritized.

The status of the remaining daycare facilities prioritized for cleanup is updated weekly on DTSC's website (https://dtsc.ca.gov/exide-audit/).

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented

6-Month Agency Response

DTSC executed a contract with National Engineering and Consulting Group Inc. (NEC) on October 28, 2020 to implement Time Critical Removal Actions (TCRA) at three parks, two schools, and two publicly owned childcare centers. In addition, DTSC directed NEC to prioritize the 24 residential daycare facilities for cleanup under their existing cleanup contract. DTSC has completed field work at these 31 properties as described below:

-Parks (3 identified in the audit): Field work was completed at the area in front of Bell City Hall and the area in front of Bell Library on December 11, 2020, and Benito Juarez Park on January 19, 2021.

-Schools (2 identified in the audit): Field work was completed at the St. Rose of Lima School on January 21, 2021, and at the Cristo Viene Christian School on March 29, 2021.

-Childcare centers (2 identified in the audit): Field work was completed at the Maywood Child Development Center on January 6, 2021, and Garcia Park Head Start on March 4, 2021.

-Daycare Facilities (24 identified in the audit): Field work was completed at 22 of the 24 residential daycare facilities, and the remaining two facilities are scheduled to be cleaned up by May 5, 2021.

Since the Audit report, we have implemented a procedure to request a list of all daycare facilities operating in the PIA from the California Department of Social Services Community Care Licensing Division on a semiannual basis. During the most recent request from this agency, DTSC identified 31 new additional daycare facilities within the cleanup area. The status of the 31 additional daycare centers is below:

-16 have completed clean up.

-3 do not require cleanup.

-12 require cleanup, and have been prioritized.

The status of the remaining daycare facilities prioritized for cleanup is updated weekly on DTSC's website (https://dtsc.ca.gov/exide-audit/).

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented

We assess this recommendation as partially implemented, pending the completion of the cleanup activities.

60-Day Agency Response

Audit report identified 31 childcare centers, parks, and schools as remaining to be cleaned. These included three parks, two schools, two publicly owned childcare centers and 24 daycares operating out of residential properties. In response to the audit findings, DTSC executed a contract with National Engineering and Consulting Group Inc. on 10/28/2020, to implement Time Critical Removal Actions at the three parks, two schools, and two publicly owned childcare centers.

In addition, DTSC directed NEC to prioritize the 24 residential daycares for cleanup under their existing cleanup contract. To facilitate their cleanup, DTSC increased our outreach efforts by deploying our consultants to work concurrently with DTSC outreach staff. DTSC anticipates completing field work at these 31 properties by the end of March 2021, as described below:

-Parks (3 identified in the audit): Field work was completed on two parks, one in front of Bell City Hall and the other in front of Bell Library as of 12/11/2020. Field work began on 12/18/2020, at the Benito Juarez Park and is anticipated to be completed on 12/30/2020.

-Schools (2 identified in the audit): Field work began on December 9, 2020, at the St. Rose of Lima School and is anticipated to be completed on 12/30/2020. Outreach continues for the Cristo Viene Christian School although the operator has withdrawn their school operation license and the school is locked with no activities onsite. As of 12/18/2020, DTSC has not been able to acquire an access agreement for this property.

-Childcare centers (2 identified in the audit): Field work began at the Maywood Child Development Center on 12/19/2020 and is anticipated to be completed on 12/30/2020. Garcia Park Head Start has requested DTSC to start field activities in early January 2021.

-Daycares (24 identified in the audit): As of 12/18/2020, following is the status of the 24 residential daycares identified in the audit report:

Response continued in recommendation #2

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Partially Implemented

To support its assessment that it had fully implemented this recommendation, DTSC posted its new contract to implement time critical removal actions for seven publicly owned properties on its website and provided an update on the status of the remaining publicly owned properties, showing that it has made progress in cleaning these properties.

We assess this recommendation as partially implemented, pending the completion of the cleanup activities.

All Recommendations in 2020-107

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.