EBMUD Castro Valley Project Canceled

The East Bay Municipal Utility District’s month-long project to move truckloads of soil through Castro Valley starting July 10 has been canceled for the time being.

That is according to EBMUD General Manager Clifford Chan and Ward 7 Board member April Chan, no relation, who represents Castro Valley.

The immediate reason for the cancellation was that the county was unlikley to issue a required conditional use permit in time for carrying out the project in the summertime, Clifford Chan said.  That timeframe had been choosen so dump trucks could pass by schools on the route when they were closed for the summer rather than in session, he said.

There are no current plans to reschedule the project, Chan said.

The conditional use permit had been opposed by the Castro Valley Municipal Advsiory Council (MAC) at its June 12 meeting. MAC members had said that the planned 150 dump trucks a day making round trips down Miller and Redwood roads to Interstate 580 would damage the roads and create other disruptions.

The plan would have moved soil, previously dug up in pipe restoration projects, from a temporary storage facility on Miller Road, off Redwood Road in orthern Castro Valley. It would then go to a new home, most likely to be a construction project at Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline in San Leandro. That destination had not been finalized, however, said April Chan.

The Miller Road facility was reaching its capacity, EBMUD officials had said, and at least some dirt needed to be moved elsewhere. A similar project in 2019 had involved moving even more soil through Castro Valley, and MAC members said it had not gone well.