(The following story by Robert Airoldi appeared on The Argus website on December 30.)
FREMONT, Calif. — The city has filed suit against Union Pacific Railroad and the owners of a lumber company and a self-storage facility in an effort to recover the costs of cleaning up contaminated soil and groundwater.
The property, at 3560 Washington Blvd. near Osgood Road, is the site of a planned overpass between Bruce Drive and Roberts Avenue.
The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges that the soil and groundwater are contaminated by various hazardous substances, including petroleum hydrocarbons.
Fremont City Attorney Harvey Levine said Union Pacific, Fremont Lumber Company and All Aboard Mini Storage all have been named in the suit until the city can determine who is responsible for the pollution.
The land was owned by the railroad, which leased the land to the lumber company. But the railroad later transferred or sold the property to Hyrail Partners, owners of the storage facility.
The 3.54-acre site is one of 20 properties the city is in the process of acquiring for the $70.4 million project, which also includes a four-lane underpass on Paseo Padre Parkway between Shadowbrooke Common and Hancock Drive.
The lumber company did an initial cleanup but the land still will need more than $100,000 to completely address the contamination, Levine said.
Earlier this year, the city filed an eminent-domain action to acquire the land and recently deposited $7.6 million for the purchase.