Echo Times

Issue date: 11/28/05 Section: News

Media Credit: Joshua Samuels COM's marine biology lab, situated in Bolinas, survived the 1906 earth-quake and through the 21 century. It is now set to be renovated as part of Measure C plan

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused ravaging fires to erupt in the wake of violent shakings. The earth ruptured along a northern part of the San Andreas fault nearly a century ago casuing widespread destruction. The same fault line runs about 1,080 feet away from where the College of Marin's Bolinas Marine Laboratory currently stands.
Knowledge of this has given the college some concern.
The laboratory, main house and storage shed at the Bolinas campus have structural and non-structural seismic deficiencies, which in the event of a major earthquake could suffer ruination, according to preliminary assessment reports.
An interim report was presented to the board of trustees at the board's regular meeting on Oct. 11 at the Indian Valley campus' library. Swinerton Management and Consulting Inc., COM's Measure C program management and construction management firm, presented the report.
An associate engineering geologist with Fugro West, a geotechnical company contracted by Swinerton, said any structure in the San Andreas fault zone was "guilty until proven innocent."
A second interim report was released and presented to the board of trustees on Nov. 15. The detailed report said the Bolinas facility was "located within the State of California Earthquake Fault Zone for the San Andreas fault." The designation requires certain building regulations to ensure safety and does not necessarily place a fault directly underneath the facility, but rather implicates an area that contains established faults. State law says "no school building" can be "constructed, rehabilitated, reconstructed or relocated within 50 feet" of a known active fault. This places the burden of proof on COM to find no active fault within 50 feet of the facility. According to Fugro West, it "would present a challenge even for very experienced investigators." Fugro estimates the project would cost $100,000 to $140,000.
Built in 1914, most buildings on the Bolinas campus are wood framed. The main house was remodeled in 1964, the same year the water storage tank was constructed. The campus is listed as a U.S. Coast Guard station on 1928 and 1931 maps obtained by Swinerton. Despite the antiquated facilities, and the COM-financed investigation into the safety of the facilities, the campus is available for use at any time, according to David Ferguson, COM biology lab technician.

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