Indoor air testing results from August and October 2024 and January 2025 show a substantial decrease in TCE from samples taken in June 2024. This  means the air treatment units, HVAC improvements, and other mitigation work has been effective.

Our immediate priority is to further improve indoor air and we are also working to design a treatment system that will permanently remove TCE from soil and soil vapor. We anticipate the system will be built and operating in 2025. We will continue to test indoor air approximately every three months until the treatment system is in place.

Results showed a concentrated area of TCE in soil and soil vapor near the western edge of the Food 4 Less building and elevated impacts in soil vapor along the northern, southern and eastern sides of the shopping center property.

Indoor air sampling will be conducted at all buildings at Market Creek Plaza on March 20, 2025.

To improve air quality, 50 air treatment units have been installed, cracks in the floor have been sealed, and improvements have been made to the store’s HVAC system, including carbon filtration and adjustments to air flow. As of October 2024, these measures have reduced TCE levels in the Food 4 Less by 50 to 95 percent.

Our priority is to improve indoor air quality at the shopping center because this is the only way people could be potentially exposed to TCE contamination. We have sealed cracks, plugged drains, and made modifications to the existing HVAC systems to allow people to safely work within their suites. We will sample indoor air within all buildings at the shopping center (excluding Food 4 Less) on March 20, 2025.

We are also designing a system to permanently remove TCE vapors from the soil and soil vapor underneath the grocery store. We anticipate the system will be built and operating in 2025.

We will be conducting off-site soil vapor sampling to determine if TCE in soil vapor has moved off site.

Chemicals that have been spilled or otherwise released onto the ground can pollute soil and groundwater. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs), like TCE, are chemicals that easily evaporate into air. VOCs that evaporate from polluted soil and groundwater can create chemical vapors underground. If these vapors move upward through the soil and come in contact with a building, they may enter the building 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 more robust 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.

All stores at Market Creek Plaza, including Food 4 Less, will remain open during environmental work.

Environmental screening levels, or ESLs, are used by DTSC and other environmental regulatory agencies to guide cleanup activities. ESLs are conservative concentrations for chemicals commonly found in soil and groundwater at sites where chemicals have been spilled, below which we generally do not expect to see impacts from soil or groundwater contamination. ESLs can also be used in the preparation of a more detailed risk assessment by matching specific exposure pathways with current or anticipated site conditions. 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 ug/m3 for commercial/industrial uses such as the Food 4 Less and other stores at the shopping center.

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 vapor from past aerospace operations conducted on-site.

MCP and its consultants continue to test air in all buildings and are taking steps to improve air quality, including installing air treatment units, operating fans, sealing cracks in the foundation and conduits, and/or adjusting and filtering the building’s HVAC system.

Analysis of the samples collected at the Food 4 Less building in July 2024 found elevated levels of TCE that required an urgent response. Mitigation measures were put in place and, as of January 2025, those measures have reduced levels by 50 to 95 percent, however levels are still above urgent action levels in some locations. We are moving forward with designing and testing a system to permanently remove TCE underneath the grocery store and further mitigate potential vapor intrusion. We anticipate the system will be built and operating in 2025. We will continue to test indoor air approximately every three months until the system is in operation.  

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 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.

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.

Significant site investigation and cleanup projects usually take 5-10 years. This is because work is done in a step-by-step fashion to make sure we have a full understanding of the extent of contamination. Each phase of work gets its own workplan which must be reviewed and approved by DTSC experts.

The team includes:

• Market Creek Plaza, LLC, (MCP): MCP did not cause the contamination, but as the owner of the property, is conducting and funding the necessary 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.

• EKI: An environmental engineering firm that is conducting the environmental investigation and any necessary remediation and mitigation activities. 

• Craig Communications: 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.