Stanford University has decided to shift the location of some housing and take other safety measures after the pollutant trichloroethylene was discovered at Stanford’s planned faculty housing development at 1451-1601 California Ave.
The pollutant was found underground, but without corrective action, there was a risk that it would leak up into the housing and harm indoor air quality. Stanford has announced plans to place 15 feet of new soil over the contaminated areas, establish anti-vapor barriers beneath housing and take other steps to prevent vapor infiltration.
Stanford’s work will be supervised by the California Department of Environmental Quality. Two outside experts evaluated and approved Stanford’s plans to address the trichloroethylene pollution. The 180-unit development, named University Terrace, is still set to open in 2017 and 2018.
More information about the housing environmental conditions can be found in the Faculty Staff Housing’s online Q+A.
Contact Caleb Smith at caleb17 ‘at’ stanford.edu.