[plank_time]

Large swathes of Silicon Valley in Mountain View are super fund sites because of the degreasers and firefighting chemicals they used at Moffett field. The chemicals went into the ground water and spread throughout the entire area from 101 to past Central Expressway.

[est31]

According to the map, Moffett field seems to be right at the coast. I've never been to that area. Is there no slope towards the coastal area of Moffett field?

Edit: thinking about it, the bay is subject to tides which probably affects the ground water as well. This would regularly press ground water from the coast inland and back again.

[mtviewdave]

I would doubt the groundwater contamination at Moffett Field would migrate inland. Groundwater in Mountain View moves in the direction of the bay.

The groundwater contamination in Mountain View proper comes from the many companies that manufactured semiconductors and other electronics in the '50s through the '80s. Many of which did a poor job disposing of the chemicals they used in electronics manufacturing.

[ericbarrett]

If you walk the trails around Stanford, both College Terrace and the Dish, you’ll see sampling tubes for monitoring soil quality because of this.

[iancmceachern]

And often had leaking underground tanks.