Water resources control board serves Olin violation notice for
missing perchlorate testing deadlines
The Olin Corp. has been served with a notice of violation for missing a deadline to supply perchlorate testing data to the Central Coast Regional Water Resources Control Board.
“There are some pretty tight time frames in this [cleanup order] and we’re concerned that they’re not meeting those time frames,” water board engineer David Athey said. “We are urging them to stay in compliance.”
The notice of violation does not carry any fines or penalties. It was issued because Olin was late submitting data from tests on a perchlorate plume flowing northeast of the company’s former road-flare plant in Morgan Hill. The company has accepted responsibility for a 9.5-mile plume flowing south through San Martin, but disputes that it caused the pollution in Morgan Hill.
Rick McClure, an Olin project manager, said the company was late with the data because its engineers installed extra wells to chart the northeast flow. He charged the water board with bowing to political pressure from Morgan Hill officials, who want Olin to pay to clean their water.
“It’s unfortunate that the city of Morgan Hill has chosen to apply pressure to the board,” McClure said. “We’re applying as many resources as we have. we’ve installed twice as many wells as planned. There’s no evidence that the site has in any way impacted [Morgan Hill].”
Perchlorate is a sodium known to interfere with thyroid function. Its presence in South County groundwater was revealed in 2003. Olin operated its Railroad Avenue plant from 1955 to 1987, and in that time burned, buried and poured perchlorate into an evaporation and seepage pit.
The water board has ordered Olin to clean the groundwater south of the plant and the company must submit a plan to do so by next June. Olin and the Santa Clara Valley Water District are testing the northeast flow to determine the source of that contamination. There has been some evidence that suggests a source other than Olin.
Matt King covers Santa Clara County for The Times. Reach him at 847-7240 or mk***@gi************.com.
