Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 21, 2007
4. Water Quality
PERCHLORATE:
One perchlorate issue may be near end - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
SUPERFUND ISSUES:
Arnold holds key to site's Superfund listing - LA Daily News
PERCHLORATE:
One perchlorate issue may be near end
By Jason Pesick, staff writer
The sides appear close to an agreement that would settle the city's lawsuits against the county, according to sources familiar with the situation.
"I'm expecting good results. I really am," said Rialto Councilwoman Winnie Hanson, a member of the council's perchlorate committee.
The city and county are wrangling over the extent of the county's role in the contamination.
A federal lawsuit filed by the city against the county and dozens of other parties won't go to trial until October 2008 at the earliest. If a settlement is reached, the suit still will go to trial, but the portion of it involving the county would be settled.
In a second suit filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court, the city alleges the county expanded a landfill in violation of a 1998 agreement made when the county was expanding the Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill. The settlement would put an end to that lawsuit.
The county is one of dozens of parties
In 1997, the county purchased property to expand the landfill, which is contaminated with perchlorate, a toxic industrial chemical.
Perchlorate is used to produce explosives and can harm humans by interfering with the thyroid gland.
Earlier in the week, Councilman Ed Scott sounded a more pessimistic note about the settlement. He had been saying for weeks the two sides would reach a settlement by Thursday.
At Tuesday night's council meeting and then again by phone on Wednesday, Scott said a settlement agreement between the two sides died somewhere on the county's end.
"We were assured that we would have something in place by the 20th so we could have some good news for our citizens," Scott said.
But county officials say work on a settlement is still moving forward.
"The county's lawyers are working on the settlement with the city's lawyers and our insurance company," Bob Page, 5th District Supervisor Josie Gonzales' chief of staff, wrote in an e-mail.
Gonzales' district includes
Last year, a tentative settlement called for the county to pay the city roughly $6 million in exchange for the city dropping charges against the county, but the two sides could never agree on specifics.
Meanwhile,
At its meeting Tuesday, the county's Board of Supervisors approved spending $400,000 in additional legal services related to perchlorate. Much of that money will go to investigate the extent of pollution, not just to lawyers.
To date, the county has spent $2.2 million on legal fees and $15 million for investigation and treatment, said county spokesman David Wert. #
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_7773548?IADID=Search-www.dailybulletin.com-www.dailybulletin.com
SUPERFUND ISSUES:
LA Daily News – 12/20/07
By Kerry Cavanaugh, staff writer
Legislators and activists involved with the Santa Susana Field Lab are urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support Superfund status for the former nuclear research and rocket-engine test site.
The governor is expected to decide by the end of the month whether he supports placing the 2,850-acre lab on the National Priorities List, which would bring U.S. Environmental Protection Agency oversight and stringent cleanup standards that lab neighbors have long sought.
"The community has been praying for a decade that this site would be added to Superfund list," said Dan Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a watchdog group that has followed the field lab controversy.
"If the governor blocks Superfund listing, he would be doing a favor to the polluter and a grave injustice to the people who live near this site."
In recent days, U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly, state Sen. Sheila Kuehl, state Assemblywoman Julia Brownley, Assemblywoman Audra Strickland, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles Councilman Greig Smith have all drafted letters urging Schwarzenegger to endorse Superfund status.
"It would finally resolve the issues we've been having for so many decades," Smith said. "It solves a lot of the questions over who is going to do what and what standards we're going to use."
If listed, the EPA would oversee the site decontamination and set cleanup standards, which has been the key controversy at the lab as activists and site managers debate how much tainted soil can be left at the hilltop property.
Governor's decision
The EPA sent a letter to the governor asking for his opinion on the Superfund listing within 30 days. The Governor's Office said he has not made a decision yet.
If Schwarzenegger agrees, the EPA regional office will recommend that the
But if the governor disagrees with EPA oversight, the agency will likely drop its recommendation. While the EPA has the power to list a site over a governor's objections, it's rarely done, officials said.
"If the site is listed, we would be fully involved," said Mike Montgomery, branch chief of the Superfund program.
"The main advantage of Superfund is that we have both the resources and enforcement tools to be able to bring all the parties together to develop a more comprehensive plan."
The push for Superfund status has bipartisan support, with Strickland,
"It is critical to the health and safety of my community that we rid the water and soil of chemical and radioactive contamination," Strickland wrote.
"I believe the Superfund designation ... is an important step to guaranteeing that we remain faithful to the people of this area in ensuring that the state and federal governments continue to clean up the field lab."
Cleanup standards
The push for Superfund status comes as the state agencies and lab owner Boeing Co. have begun negotiating on cleanup standards for the site if the property is preserved as parkland.
In October, Schwarzenegger signed legislation that would prohibit the sale or transfer of the site unless it's cleaned up to the strictest standards.
But his approval was on condition that the legislators draft a new law that lets Boeing clean up the property to less strict standards if the property is given to the state for public open space.
Assemblyman Cameron Smyth said he would defer to the governor's decision.
"The site is going to be cleaned up with or without Superfund," he said.
But Elizabeth Crawford with RocketdyneWatch said the governor's decision will determine the ultimate fate of the field lab property.
"One person has the single decision to clean it up once and for all," she said, "or leave it dirty forever." #
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7774059
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