I am sharing the email exchange between our reporter and the media information officer for the Department of Toxic Substances Control regarding the project under construction at 2550 Irving St. Here is a link to the original story published in the June 2025 edition of the Sunset Beacon newspaper and on this website: Neighbors Near 2550 Irving Project Fear Toxic Plume.
Q: It was brought to my editor’s attention by a resident and a local neighborhood association group that the parcel on Irving Street currently being built upon has not been entirely cleaned of toxic residue. Which, they claim still has remaining toxic residue from a dry cleaning business on that spot years prior.
Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association, San Francisco
The Mid-Sunset Neighborhood Association claims that proper cleanup protocols have not been fully implemented. In the eagerness to get more housing built for the community, procedures got overlooked or mishandled in order to get a housing project up quickly.
Is this true/factual?
A: The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is overseeing the remediation of the 2550 Irving Street affordable housing site to ensure that the project is completed in compliance with State law (California Health and Safety Code Sections 25395.91-25395.92). The site is contaminated with tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in soil vapor. To address any human health risks associated with potential exposure to PCE onsite, DTSC required mitigation measures be included in the redevelopment. Although a cleaner (former Miracle Cleaner) was present on the site between 1928 and 1949, no concentrated source of PCE has been found on the site. PCE concentrations observed onsite may be related to an offsite source.
In 2021, DTSC approved a Response Plan selecting a remedy to protect human health from residual contamination in soil vapor onsite. The Response Plan calls for a vapor intrusion mitigation system (VIMS) for the new residential building. The VIMS will protect future building occupants from vapors off-gassing from subsurface contamination. The remedy also requires an operation and maintenance plan to ensure continued effectiveness, and a land use covenant prohibiting residential use of the property without the VIMS in place.
The remedy is currently under construction. The VIMS, consisting of a sub-slab venting system and a sub-slab vapor barrier membrane, is complete and DTSC was present onsite on November 15, 2024 to observe smoke testing of the vapor barrier. Next steps include verification sampling of sub-slab and indoor air concentrations, preparation of a Response Plan Implementation Report, finalizing an Operation and Maintenance Plan for the VIMS, and executing an Operation and Maintenance Agreement and land use covenant between the landowner and the DTSC.
Completed reports for the project are available on DTSC’s public database, EnviroStor. Additional historical documents related to the 2550 Irving Street site are also available on The Police Credit Union page.
DTSC is overseeing ongoing investigations of PCE at two other sites in the neighborhood. These sites are the Former Albrite Cleaners and 1300 26th Avenue. DTSC-approved environmental reports and correspondence for these sites can also be found in Envirostor.
Q: Apparently, from what I’ve been told, a report/evaluation was done of the location back in 2019-2020. See attached screenshot. The neighborhood group says this report and subsequent assessments has been ignored or dismissed. Would it be possible to get some verification from someone at DTSC about this situation?
A: DTSC is familiar with the draft Second 2019 Semiannual Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Report (AllWest Environmental, January 2020) and considered the results of that study during our review of subsequent documents including the Response Plan. The document reports the results of sampling conducted in December 2019, for the former Police Credit Union building at 2550 Irving Street. The specific report can be found here.
The report indicated PCE was impacting indoor air quality within the credit union building and recommended additional sampling in 2020. A subsequent report, the First Quarter 2020 Indoor Air Quality Monitoring Report (AllWest Environmental, February 2020), provided data demonstrating that indoor air concentrations in 2020 did not exceed PCE screening levels for the occupied, ventilated portion of the building. PCE concentrations in the unventilated portion of the building continued to exceed commercial screening levels. The former credit union building has since been demolished, and the site is being redeveloped for affordable housing. As described above, the new building includes a VIMS to protect future residents onsite.
Q: Was a test of the site done in full? And was DTSC notified?
A: DTSC considers the site (2550 Irving Street) fully characterized. In 2021, DTSC approved a Site Assessment Plan and Report of Findings documenting contamination onsite that posed a potential human health risk. DTSC required the developer to prepare a Response Plan to address potential risk; DTSC approved the Response Plan in 2021.
In 2023, in response to community concerns, DTSC requested additional investigation of PCE in soil, soil vapor, and groundwater at the site. The DTSC-approved report summarizing the results of the additional investigation is available here.
The additional investigation confirmed prior investigations and did not identify a concentrated source of PCE onsite.
During the start of construction at the site in 2024, two underground storage tanks (USTs) containing waste oil were identified and removed. The USTs were removed with oversight from both the San Francisco Department of Public Health and DTSC. These USTs appeared to be related to past fueling stations located on the property and PCE was not detected in their contents.
Q: If so, what was DTSC’s response/follow up on the situation?
A: The Response Plan addresses potential human health risk associated with PCE onsite. DTSC released the Response Plan for public comment from July 12 to August 13, 2021. All public comments and DTSC responses are recorded in the Response Plan. The Response Plan can be found here.
In accordance with the Response Plan, the building currently under construction at the site is equipped with a VIMS which will allow soil vapor to vent and prevent vapor intrusion into the building. The system will be regularly inspected in accordance with a Land Use Covenant and an Operation and Maintenance Plan.
Russ Edmondson
Media Information Officer, Communications
Department of Toxic Substances Control
California Environmental Protection Agency
Categories: From the Editor
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 
The VIMS protects the residents of the new building, but it does not protect the residents who already live in the neighborhood. I live two doors down from the new building, and PCE vapor was detected by DTSC entering my downstairs shower drain. DTSC has done nothing to mitigate the vapor intrusion into my home. My wife, son, daughter and I have been breathing cancer causing gas for decades and DTSC doesn’t care enough to do anything about it.
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DTSC is being disingenuous. The employee originally in charge of coordinating response and responsibility for the problem of spreading toxic gas made errors. Rather than admit and correct them, DTSC has continued to invest in protecting themselves by insisting the problems in the neighborhood and on site are being well taken care of. We all know that is not true. The residents of the building going up and the neighbors will suffer as a result. Again, why can’t we have housing and good health?
Flo Kimmerling
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