The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board last week
ordered Olin Corp. to begin sampling wells north east of the source
site at Tennant and Railroad avenues, which will come as good news
to residents in that area who have perchlorate in their wells.
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board last week ordered Olin Corp. to begin sampling wells north east of the source site at Tennant and Railroad avenues, which will come as good news to residents in that area who have perchlorate in their wells.
It was good news for the City of Morgan Hill as well, with several municipal wells nearby, several of which are temporarily closed because they detected levels above 4 ppb, the point at which customers must be notified. Instead, the city decided to shut them down.
In the past, Olin has refused to acknowledge any responsibility for perchlorate appearing in wells outside the boundaries set by Monterey Road, Tennant Avenue, Foothill Avenue and Masten Avenue, though that southern boundary has moved to Leavesley Road in Gilroy. Olin has taken responsibility for the chemical plume within the boundaries.
At the Regional Board’s quarterly meeting in Salinas on Friday, board member Jeffrey S. Young asked Harvey Packard, the board’s senior water resources engineer, if there was any doubt that Olin’s release of perchlorate was responsible for the contamination in the northeastern wells.
“We’re not 100 percent sure,” Packard said. “Olin thinks not but Morgan Hill is definitely sure.”
“Are there any other sources,” Young asked?
“No other identified sources,” Packard said.
Young asked what mechanism would have allowed the plume to move north.
“One, pumping from a lot of wells could influence the plume,” Packard said, “and, two, with so many of the (northeasterly) wells being agricultural they could draw the (perchlorate-laden) water up to irrigate crops and it could then leach back down into the groundwater over a period of years.”
Mayor Dennis Kennedy told the Regional Board that Morgan Hill has brought one well – the Nordstrom well – back on line by installing its own treatment plant.
“Olin refuses to pay,” he said.
The Nordstrom well is north of the boundary line where the plume was originally thought to have traveled. Olin’s actions are not enough, Kennedy said.
“I urge you (the board) to act decisively and force Olin to accept responsibility for what they have done.”
Bruce Daniels, chairman of the Regional Board, offered to make an enforcement action if needed.
