It was not until 1990 that state officials and San Mateo County first notified residents that the ground beneath Midway Village was laden with PNAs. PNAs are found in soil in most urban areas at less than 10 parts per million. In 1990, toxins experts recorded levels as high as 170 parts per million in the surface soil at Midway Village, with concentrations four times as high below the surface of the complex. In 1993, more than 250 current and former residents of Midway Village joined in class-action lawsuits in federal court claiming negligence on the part of the federal government and the U.S. Navy. Others refused to accept what they deemed an insult.
Government contractors use gas plant residues to fill the marshland where complex is built.
No tests are conducted on soil. The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry releases study showing high levels of genetic abnormalities among Midway Village residents.