Is It Safe to Grow Food in San Mateo County?
Federal record: HighWe checked the federal record around San Mateo County — 5,427 documented sites across 7 of the 8 site registers we track, 30 of them high-severity.
The most significant on record: 16 Superfund sites. Sites tracked in EPA's Superfund program — from assessment-stage CERCLIS entries to confirmed National Priorities List cleanup sites.
San Mateo County carries one of the heavier federal records we track — 5,427 documented sites, most of them brownfields. That's a record of the area's history, not a verdict on any one yard: proximity to a documented site is information, not a diagnosis. Before food beds go in, a professional soil test tells you exactly what you're working with — and raised beds with clean imported soil grow well almost anywhere in the meantime.
Documented sites nearest the San Mateo County center
- Caltrans Dist 4 — Brownfields · ~4.3 km from the county center
- Dba Azevedo Feed (Wilbur J Azevedo) — Brownfields · ~4.5 km from the county center
- Half Moon Bay Grading & Paving Inc — Brownfields · ~4.6 km from the county center
These are the closest documented sites to San Mateo County's geographic center — a screening reference, not a reading on any specific address. Check your own California parcel to see what's actually near you.
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