Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 5, 2007
4. Water Quality
PERCHLORATE:
Superfund help sought for perchlorate cleanup - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
RUNOFF ISSUES:
Storm runoff can cause problems at some area lakes - Riverside Press Enterprise
LOS OSOS:
Osos district offers plan to save rare snail; The district responds to the concerns of the state Coastal Commission about onsite maintenance - San Luis Obispo Tribune
PERCHLORATE:
Superfund help sought for perchlorate cleanup
By Jason Pesick, staff writer
"It has become very apparent that we need to seek all the help and assistance that we can," said Councilman Ed Scott, immediately prior to the 5-0 vote Tuesday evening.
Even an EPA official who attended the meeting seemed to offer a premature vote of support to the city's efforts to attain the vaunted Superfund listing.
"I think we, like others, started to become concerned last year when the state's process began to get bogged down," said Wayne Praskins, Superfund project manager with the EPA.
The packed Council Chambers burst into applause following the vote.
Superfund is the federal government's hazardous waste cleanup program.
A chunk of the city's northern edge during World War II was a military storage facility and continues to be used as an industrial site.
The chief contaminant, perchlorate, was discovered in 1997 in
Perchlorate is used to produce explosives, such as fireworks and rocket fuel. The perchlorate is flowing underground through much of the city in a plume that continues to grow.
In humans, perchlorate can interfere with the thyroid gland, which is necessary for regulating metabolism and development of the central nervous system.
The council-endorsed resolution petitions the EPA to designate a 160-acre site, bounded by
The resolution also asks the EPA to consider areas surrounding the source area as part of the possible Superfund site.
Numerous source areas of the perchlorate have been identified.
One of those areas is southwest of the 160-acre site and is being cleaned up by
Praskins recently said state and federal environment officials will ask some of the parties accused of contaminating the area to begin doing investigative work at the source of the contamination.
Over the years, city officials have strongly opposed going the Superfund route and put their faith in state regulatory bodies and an upcoming federal lawsuit against dozens of parties. But the suspected polluters have used their lawyers' mastery of jurisprudence to befuddle state regulators and halt the regulatory process.
The State Water Resources Control Board was supposed to hold hearings to see if three companies - Goodrich, Black & Decker and Pyro Spectaculars - should pay to clean up the contamination, but a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge stopped those hearings from moving forward until questions about the fairness of the process could be settled.
Praskins said the earliest an announcement on whether
RUNOFF ISSUES:
Storm runoff can cause problems at some area lakes
Riverside Press
By Aaron Burgin, staff writer
While officials from two Inland area lakes are advising visitors of the health hazards posed by recent storm runoff, officials from other lakes are confident storms expected this week will not warrant such warnings.
Bohan said the city should know this afternoon if it can take down the warning signs when it gets the results of tests taken Tuesday morning.
With a powerful winter storm expected to hit the area this week,
Riverside County Environmental Health Department testers will test the lake's bacteria levels in mid-December, then city officials will determine whether to close the lake.
Health officials closed a section of
"I think after every significant rain everyone should be advised," said Pat Kilroy,
Runoff from the San Jacinto River watershed -- which covers more than 750 square miles and includes the cities of Moreno Valley, Hemet, Perris, San Jacinto and as far east as Idyllwild -- runs into both lakes.
"Basically, anything that is on the streets in the area will run into
Many man-made Inland lakes do not have issues with storm water runoff because they feed from much smaller watersheds, officials said.
"The recent storm probably helped the lake if anything," Weatherman said.
Officials from other lakes in the Inland area said they are keeping an eye on this week's storm, expected to last from Thursday night into Saturday morning, but for different reasons.
In the
"It's something we would take day-by-day," Stephenson said.
"If the rain all came down at once, it would definitely be an issue."
Officials at
"We won't be issuing any advisories," said John Rutledge, general manager of the Arrowhead Lake Association. #
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_lakestorm05.4ef692.html
LOS OSOS:
Osos district offers plan to save rare snail; The district responds to the concerns of the state Coastal Commission about onsite maintenance
San Luis Obispo
By Sona Patel, staff writer
Threatened by a state agency for not having the proper permits to grade and remove vegetation on a key parcel of land, the Los Osos Community Services District recently submitted a plan detailing how it will maintain the property to protect a rare snail.
It’s the latest controversy over upkeep of the so-called Tri-Wproperty in the middle of town, once slated for a wastewater treatment plant.
Earlier this year, the district considered removing a fence around the property because it costs $1,300 a month to maintain.
In response, the enforcement arm of the state Coastal Commission sent a letter Sept. 13 requiring that the district submit a detailed plan on how it will protect the environmentally sensitive habitat and the rare Morro shoulderband snail if the fence is removed.
According to the letter, the district “did not get authorization from (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) for disturbance or potential take of the snail, coastal shrub and possibly other listed species before undertaking grading and vegetation removal.”
The services district crafted a maintenance plan in response to the commission’s letter.
George Milanes, the district’s utilities manager, said maintaining the Tri-W site would cost the district up to $2,500 for equipment and materials for seeding and restoring native vegetation.
The Coastal Commission has received the detailed plan, which officials will review, said
She added that the requirements outlined in the letter were the first step to preventing heavy erosion at the site.
Those requirements could change, however, depending on whether
“We don’t think that requiring restoration right now is an appropriate step,” Cave said. “The county could come back and use it as a site for a wastewater treatment plant.”
In late September, Gordon Hensley, a member of environmental group San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, threatened to sue the services district if it didn’t take steps to protect the snail while the county considers the land as a site for a future sewer.
The former district board member threatened to sue unless the district followed the Coastal Commission’s requirements outlined in the September letter.
“We’re ready if we need to go there,” Hensley said, referring to a potential lawsuit. “But as long as the process moves along, everything should be satisfied.”
Need for a sewer
State water quality regulators have for years been pressuring Los Osos to build a sewer system in the hope of mitigating pollution suspected of coming from residents’ septic tanks.
There have been several failed attempts to build a sewer, including one that broke ground in August 2005 at Tri-W butwas halted after a re-call election replaced a majority of services district board. Whether to proceed with a treatment plant at Tri-W was at the heart of the recall.
A plan brokered by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, and approved by state lawmakers transferred responsibility for the sewer project to the county.
In late October, the town’s property owners overwhelmingly approved a $127 million assessment to pay for a sewer.
Tri-Wis still being considered as a possible site for a plant, among several that a county panel is examining.
Critics of the Tri-W parcel point out the site is next to the town’s library, across the street from its only park and community center and near a number of churches.
Supporters of the parcel say the central location makes it ideal because it would require less piping than an out-of-town site.
They also note that the services district already owns the parcel and that it has obtained all needed permits.
County officials say state environmental laws require them to evaluate Tri-W as a potential site for a plant. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/211297.html
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