It doesn’t hurt to ask. With that premise in mind, a community
effort pushing for a timely cleanup of a 10-mile groundwater
perchlorate plume stretching from Morgan Hill to San Martin
– and perhaps beyond – took one step closer to its goal.
Morgan Hill
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
With that premise in mind, a community effort pushing for a timely cleanup of a 10-mile groundwater perchlorate plume stretching from Morgan Hill to San Martin – and perhaps beyond – took one step closer to its goal.
The Perchlorate Community Advisory Group presented a letter to the staff of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Region on Thursday evening during a regularly scheduled meeting at the San Martin Lions Club with comments and suggested revisions to the draft Cleanup or Abatement Order. The document will be up for approval Dec. 7 at CRWQCB’s meeting in San Luis Obispo.
The letter’s intent is to speed up the cleanup process, which the CAO already spells out in detail. Missouri-based Olin Corp. is responsible for the contamination stretching south of Morgan Hill, where the company operated a road flare plant for 39 years, from 1956 to 1995. The contamination was discovered at the site by a potential buyer in 2000, and the water board directed Olin to cleanup the site, which Olin did before 2003. PCAG was formed that year in response to growing suspicions that contamination was more widespread than previously thought.
Perchlorate, a salt commonly found in the environment, can be dangerous in high concentrations because it can interfere with thyroid gland function, inhibiting the intake of iodide, an essential component of thyroid hormones, according to the California Department of Health.
The order calls for Olin to implement “all necessary investigation and remedial actions (hydraulic control and cleanup)” in the affected area. It also includes a schedule to ensure it’s fulfilled on time.
Less clear is what will constitute an adequate level of contamination. Although the state requires cleanup to “background,” or undetectable levels, the order leaves it up to the board to determine whether that’s feasible and allows to “set a less stringent cleanup level,” according to the draft of the order. Plans are in place to begin the “pump and treat” cleanup strategy in the plume’s Priority Zone A, the area where perchlorate concentration is more than 24 parts per billion, four times higher than the level considered acceptable. The preliminary plan calls for monitoring the remaining area, but not to treat it.
At times, members of the audience became testy with the panelists. A few complained about what they perceive as continuous delays in the cleanup process, while others griped about paying for bottled water to fill their wells. Stephen Jackson said he was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, a condition in which the body lacks sufficient thyroid hormone, that he believes is related to the perchlorate contamination.
“It could’ve been over 60 (parts per billion) for many, many years,” said Jackson, who believes he and his family had been using a polluted well. “I’m really upset.”
Adair Farnes said she recently remodeled her house and installed a reverse osmosis tank, bought at Costco, that can be attached to a water source to rid the water of perchlorate.
PCAG’s letter demands Olin begin cleanup quickly, even ahead of the order approval. It also asks for a wider application of the “pump and treat” system.
“(Monitoring) does not provide the level of protection our communities deserve,” the group writes in the letter. Olin should “move forward without waiting or depending on the activities of other agencies,” reads another portion of the letter. The company should “be required to further evaluate the benefits and feasibility of active perchlorate removal in the entire Llagas subbasin,” reads another.
The board’s representative said the community’s voice was heard and that the comments and suggestions would be considered.
“We can work with them,” said Hector Hernandez. “Once we receive the comments, we’ll prepare a staff report to the board.”
The meeting was sparsely attended with the audience of about a dozen almost equaling the panel in size. A representative of state Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, was on the panel. Morgan Hill Public Works Director James M. Ashcraft was in the audience and was taking extensive notes. Olin was not represented at the meeting.
PCAG will review the board staff’s responses to its letter at the next meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Nov. 30 at the San Martin Lions Club, 12415 Murphy Ave.
