| Abstract |
The 557-acre Coalinga Asbestos Mine site, a former asbestos processing area and chromite mine, comprises part of the Johns Manville Coalinga Asbestos Mill site in western Fresno County, California. This rural mountainous area is used primarily for recreational purposes. From 1962 to 1974, asbestos ore from several local mines was processed and sorted onsite, and the resulting asbestos mill tailings were periodically bulldozed into an intermittent stream channel. Subsequently, from 1975 to 1977, a chromite milling operation was conducted onsite. Tailings were often washed downstream during periods of stream flow, and the resuspension of asbestos fibers from the tailings into the air produced a significant inhalation hazard. As a result of these activities, approximately 450,000 cubic yards of mill tailings and asbestos ore remain onsite within a large tailing pile. In 1980 and 1987, State investigations indicated that the site was contributing a significant amount of asbestos into the surface water. The site will be remediated as two Operable Units (OU). The Record of Decision (ROD) addresses the remedial action for OU2, the Johns Manville Coalinga Asbestos Mill Area. The primary contaminant of concern affecting the surface water is asbestos. |
