Oakland Global Newsletter — July 2014

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  • on July 31, 2014
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Brought to you by the Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center and California Capital & Investment Group

 
OAKLAND GLOBAL NEWS
Monthly Updates on the OaklanGlobal Trade & Logistics Center Project
 
 
 
Oakland Global News, July 2014
 
Dear Reader,  
 
Oakland Global News is a monthly newsletter for readers interested in staying current as the Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center (former Oakland Army Base) project evolves.
 
Job Center Seeking Program Director
 
The West Oakland Job Resource Center is seeking a new program director to help guide the center toward fulfilling its mission of creating careers in the building trades, transportation, distribution and logistics sectors for low-income and underserved Oakland residents. The new director will replace Salafai Suafai, who understood the job to be a temporary assignment and plans to return working specifically with women in the building trades.
 
The new director is expected to start in early September and will tackle a long list of responsibilities, including the following: Organizational leadership and management, administration, resource development and communications.
 
The Job Center developed out of community meetings related the Oakland Global project and is incorporated into the project’s binding jobs policies. The center is a collaborative effort between the City of Oakland, employers, unions, community organizations and developers. It offers career counseling, referrals to training and employment, and assistance with apprenticeship test preparation.
 
Al Auletta, Program Manager for the City of Oakland Department of Economic and Workforce Development, said that application filing for the position closed on July 25. More than forty job seekers completed applications for the position, which was posted on online distribution lists and other job boards, Auletta said.
 
The job center recently released an annual report showing that despite limited staff and resources, the center has placed a significant number of Oaklanders in jobs and referred many others to services, apprenticeships and pre-apprentice programs since March 2013.
 
The report, which covered the period from March 2013, when the center opened, to April 2014, shows that 625 individuals have attended orientations. Out of that number, 303 were screened for work history and interests and directed to social services, apprenticeship programs or employment. 177 individuals entered pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs, or were hired by an employer. Employers include Webcor Builders, Arc Glass Co., United Parcel Service and the Oakland Global project.
 
A driving force for the job center was to help the Oakland Global project and other contractors working with City meet local hiring requirements. According to a community jobs agreement, at least 50 percent of Oakland Global project work hours must be performed by local residents; for each construction trade, 20 percent of work hours must be handled by apprentices; and at least 25 percent of work hours performed by apprentices have to be completed by disadvantaged workers.
 
The center is open Monday-Friday, 9a.m. – 5 p.m., West Oakland Library, 1801 Adeline Street, 2nd Floor. It can be accessed by the AC Transit NL and 26 lines. Job seekers can pre-register to attend orientations by calling: 510-419-0509.
 
Treatment Plant Saves Valuable Water
 
The Oakland Global construction project’s water treatment plant received preliminary approval from regulators last week and will soon start collecting ground water extracted through the digging of trenches and other underground work on the former Oakland Army base. The plant is expected to collect more than 50 million gallons of water, allowing the project to treat and reuse water as the State of California endures its most severe drought since the 1970s.
 
Two regulators, as well as the City of Oakland, have given preliminary approval to the system: The Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC), which regulates the generation, handling, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste in California.
 
The ground water may be tainted by fuels, chemicals and metals that are leftovers from the land’s use as an Army Base from 1941 to 1999. But the plant will process the water so that it can be used for dust control and other construction-related needs, allowing the recycled water to save money in two ways:  1) The project will not have to purchase dust control water; 2) The project will not have to pay for water to be treated by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) so that excess can flow into storm drains.
 
 The water treatment facility features a significant benefit that will last throughout the four-year infrastructure construction project. Without it, the only viable alternative for dust control water would be EBMUD potable water, which would otherwise be provided for general circulation.
 
Fifty million gallons of extracted water could fill 76 Olympic swimming pools or supply approximately 153 suburban homes with water for a year, so the treatment plant will be used extensively. The plant’s system consists of several components, including tanks, filters and piping. 
 
The first step in treating the water is to pump it via underground pipes to the treatment system (see photo above). The system then uses three phases to treat the groundwater: Settling, flocculation and polishing (also known as carbon absorption). 
 
Once the water moves through the third tank and is activated with carbon, it can be collected in water trucks and used for dust control. Any excess water can be discharged to a storm drain (under a permit). DTSC will soon review the proposal to use the water for dust control.
 
Tear Down Project Nears Completion
 
Five former Army base warehouses have been deconstructed and three more are scheduled to be torn down by the end of September, which will signal the completion of one of Oakland Global’s major construction endeavors. “It’s satisfying to see the end in sight for this major deconstruction job,” said Kevin Bohm, who is leading the effort. “We have stayed on schedule and met all our environmental goals, including preserving a lot of valuable wood.”
The warehouses range in size from 20,000 ft. to 260,000 ft. and were built by the Army in the early 1940s as part of the war effort. But they cannot accommodate modern day logistics operations and will be replaced by new buildings.
The three remaining warehouses feature five bays and measure approximately 260,000 ft. Because the Port of Oakland plans to retain portions of the warehouses, the Oakland Global project will be removing just two or three bays from each warehouse.
Although the structures are obsolete, they were constructed out of mostly oldgrowth Douglas fir. That timber is being preserved, de-nailed and banded so that it can be applied to a range of uses, such as furniture production and future construction.
Preserving the old growth wood helps the Oakland Global project comply with city and state rules requiring construction and demolition debris recycling. The centerpiece of those rules comes from Section 15.34.010 of the Oakland Municipal Code. Its intent is to “divert at a minimum 50 percent of construction and debris from landfills; process and return the materials into the economic mainstream thereby conserving natural resources; and stimulating markets for recycled and salvaged materials.”
The city now requires 100 percent recycling / reuse for asphalt and concrete and 65 percent waste reduction for all other materials. Oakland Global’s deconstruction and demolition project is specifically designed to meet those rules. When the work is complete, an estimated 3,150 tons of salvaged materials will be sold and recycled across the Western United States and Mexico.
Compared to younger wood, old growth timber features denser growth rings, and as a result, is much stronger. Also, saw mills previously cut old growth into larger pieces (such as 10 in. x 20 in.), than are typically available today.
It is expected that the warehouse wood will be available for purchase -both wholesale and retail – in September.
 
Army Base Photography 
As a recurring feature, the Oakland Global News presents photography from the Army Base.The photos and captions below are by Dan Nourse. 
 
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54 inch storm drains to replace current stystem
 
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Storm drain trench
 
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Demolishing warehouse foundation
 
Dan Nourse, a project manager with Oakland-based Roje Consulting, focuses on Oakland Global’s environmental remediation, site elevation increase and site surcharging. Dan was instrumental in the redevelopment of Emeryville and West Oakland. He is a self-taught photographer and uses photography to capture the progress of redevelopment projects as well as producing artful images along the way.
Issue 22
IN THIS ISSUE
 
 
QUICK LINKS
 
Stay informed
 
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about the Oakland Global Trade & Logistics Center development. I believe that the Oakland Global Newsletter will prove to be a useful tool for staying informed and current on this important project going forward.
 
Sincerely,
Phil Tagami
 
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This email was sent to john@bayplanningcoalition.org by robert@rojeconsulting.com  
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Roje Consulting
 | 300 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza | Suite 385 | Oakland | CA | 94612
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