CORE directors present Bob Wieckowski Assemblymember of the Year Award. Assemblymember Wieckowski is Chair of the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. Pictured from left to right are Heather Falkenthal, Esq. (Legislative Aide to Assemblymember Wieckowski); Bob Fredenburg (Chief Consultant, Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee); Bob Clark-Riddell; Assemblymember/Committee Chair Wieckowski; Dwayne Ziegler; Ami Adini and Jim Arnold.
In 2009, the California UST Cleanup Fund had run out of money. There was not enough money to reimburse all claims for cleanup costs of properties with leaking underground storage tanks (USTs). A group of people gathered at Cal EPA Headquarters in Sacramento at a general meeting called by the State Water Resources Control Board. The people at the meeting had experience relating to cleaning up polluted soil and groundwater in California.
The State Water Resources Control Board set up two task forces. One task force was to look into the workings of the UST Cleanup Fund. The second task force was to examine the UST Cleanup Program. CORE founders and board members served actively on both task forces working with other stakeholders to encourage better practices aimed at efficient land and groundwater cleanups.
Realizing the limits of working within the structure of the State Water Resources Control Board, CORE was founded to enact change at the state legislative level to promote efficient cleanups.
Current CORE Goals…
- Where appropriate, work with the California legislature to introduce policy to ensure efficient environmental cleanups of contaminated land and groundwater.
- Continue to participate in the citizen advisory group for the UST Fund to implement effective program changes and keep our membership abreast of current UST Fund direction.
- Research ways to implement funding for investigation and remediation of dry cleaning sites.
- Provide a forum for the discussion of the proposed Low-Threat UST Closure Policy.
- Continue education of CORE members and others about funding and scientifically based better cleanups.