TITLE
Recommendation to authorize City Manager to execute a first amendment to the agreement with Impact Assessment Inc. (IAI), in the amount of $50,000 for education and outreach services to reduce the consumption of contaminated fish in connection with the USEPA Palos Verdes Shelf Fish Contamination Project for the term of
January 14, 2006 through December 31, 2006. (Citywide)
DISCUSSION
The Palos Verdes Shelf United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) Superfund site off the Los Angeles County Palos Verdes Peninsula is among the largest contaminated ocean sediment sites in the United States. Past disposal practices of carcinogenic and toxigenic chemicals, including Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), have resulted in the accumulation of harmful levels of these substances in certain species of fish. In 1990, based on very high levels of contamination, the California Department of Fish and Game created zones off the Palos Verdes Shelf where the commercial catch of white croaker is banned.
Subsequently, the USEPA's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment issued fish consumption advisories for certain fish, including white croaker, caught within the Palos Verdes Shelf and other Southern California sites because of elevated DDT and PCB levels. In 1996, a study conducted by Heal the Bay showed white croaker with elevated levels of DDT and PCB being sold at Asian markets in Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
The USEPA Institutional Controls draft report, issued in December 2001, determined that the immediate human health risk was of paramount importance and the most feasible action was to institute measures to convey the health risks associated with the contaminated sediments to those at greatest risk.
IAI, a La Jolla, California-based corporation, administers the distribution of USEPA funds. The corporation is a contractual intermediary of the USEPA, the recipient of several million dollars in settlemen...
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