Chemicals that have been spilled or dumped on the ground can pollute soil and groundwater. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are chemicals that easily evaporate into air. VOCs that evaporate from polluted soil and groundwater can create chemical vapors underground. If these vapors move and come in contact with a building, they may enter through cracks in the foundation, around pipes, or through a drain system. The VOCs can then contaminate indoor air. This process - when pollution moves from air spaces in soil to indoor air - is called vapor intrusion.

Vapor-forming chemicals can easily move into the air and form vapors. Common ones include solvents used in dry cleaning and degreasing, as well as gasoline and diesel fuel.

TCE is a vapor forming chemical and is known to the State of California to cause cancer and harm reproductive health. TCE is commonly used in industries to remove oil or grease. It’s also in some household products such as stain removers and adhesives. For these reasons, TCE is commonly found in the indoor air in homes and businesses and in outdoor air in cities.

Unfortunately, TCE contamination is very common throughout California and the United States due to the widespread use of TCE before environmental regulations were in place.  DTSC and its sister agency, the State Water Resources Control Board, oversee hundreds of TCE cleanup cases.

Yes. Your drinking water is provided by the San Diego County Water Authority and is regularly tested to meet state and federal requirements.

We understand the grocery store is very important to the community. The store will remain open during environmental work and there are no plans to close the store.

Environmental screening levels, or ESLs, are used by DTSC to guide cleanup activities. ESLs establish the concentrations of chemicals (usually measured in parts per million or parts per billion) that can be present in soil, groundwater and indoor air without causing health impacts to humans, including sensitive populations such as children, the elderly, pregnant women and the immunocompromised. When a chemical is found above an ESL, it does not indicate that a health impact will occur, but it does mean that additional investigation and cleanup may be needed to provide for the long-term protection of public health.  

ESLs for TCE are designed to be very conservative and health-protective, and are generally set at levels where a person has a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of getting cancer. To put this in perspective, a person has a greater chance of being struck by lightning (1 in 10,000). 

For TCE, there are also risk-based action levels. These are used by regulatory agencies to determine when quick mitigation measures are needed to protect the health of sensitive populations, such as pregnant women. 

The US EPA has established an urgent action level for TCE of 24 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) for commercial/industrial uses such as the Food 4 Less.

To be exposed to TCE, there needs to be an exposure pathway or a way to directly contact the TCE.  There is no way to come into contact with TCE in soil since the shopping center is paved and/or covered with buildings.  The only way to encounter TCE is through breathing outdoor air which contains trace amounts in urban environments or indoor air which may contain TCE from soil gas from past aerospace operations conducted on-site.

MCP and its consultants are testing air in the buildings to determine if it contains TCE.  These results will be shared with DTSC and the public.  If TCE is found in indoor air at levels that require a response, there are steps that can take to quickly improve indoor air quality, including sealing cracks in building foundation, operating fans and air purifiers, and adjusting existing HVAC systems.

According to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), TCE in the blood stream can cross the placenta and enter the developing baby. A pregnant woman’s exposure to TCE during the first two to eight weeks of pregnancy, when the baby’s heart is developing, can increase the chance of having a baby born with a birth defect of the heart. Most babies exposed to TCE during pregnancy will be born with normal hearts, and having a baby with a birth defect of the heart does not mean there was exposure to TCE. For more information from ATSDR, click HERE.

The US EPA has established an urgent action level of 24 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) for commercial/industrial uses. If you are pregnant and have been exposed to indoor air concentrations above the urgent action level, please inform your doctor of the exposure.

VOCs are common in urban environments and are found in outdoor air, as well as air within buildings. TCE is difficult to measure in the human body because it is eliminated within 16 hours and if levels of TCE are identified, there is no way to identify the source. If you are concerned that your health may have been affected by VOC exposure, please see your doctor to discuss the issue.

Yes. VOCs are found in a variety of everyday items, including household/commercial cleaners, dry-cleaning chemicals, adhesives, varnishes, and some building materials.

Our knowledge of vapor intrusion is relatively recent, thanks to newer research techniques and advancements in chemical detection. In the past, contaminated sites were evaluated primarily based on impacts to groundwater, not their ability to impact indoor air. A recent property transaction next door identified chemicals in soil vapor and this prompted environmental investigation work at the shopping center.

Investigation work will be conducted in a step-by-step manner. Our priority is taking steps to improve the air quality within the Food 4 Less which we will be doing this summer.  Longer term, we will be testing indoor air within other buildings at the shopping center and conducting a sitewide investigation to determine the extent of soil vapor contamination and the best methods to permanently address VOC impacts at the shopping center. 

The following organizations are involved in the environmental investigation and cleanup of the Market Creek Plaza:

Market Creek Plaza, LLC, (MCP): MCP did not cause the contamination, but as the owner of the property, is taking responsibility for conducting and funding environmental investigation and cleanup work. 

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC): The government agency responsible for overseeing the investigation, mitigation and remediation (cleanup) of the shopping center.

SCS Engineers: Consultant to MCP; an environmental engineering firm that is conducting the environmental investigation and any necessary remediation and mitigation activities. 

Craig Communications: Consultant to MCP; a communications firm that is assisting with communications about this project to those that work at, visit, or live near the Market Creek Plaza. 

The Department of Toxic Substances, or DTSC, is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA). DTSC’s mission is to protect California’s people, communities and environment from toxic substances, to enhance economic vitality by restoring contaminated land, and to compel manufacturers to make safer consumer products. 

For the Market Creek Plaza project, DTSC is overseeing work conducted by the property owner and its consultants to ensure that the investigation, mitigation and remediation (cleanup) of the shopping center is done correctly and is completed. DTSC will also conduct a variety of outreach to share project information and findings.  For more information, visit DTSC's project database.