Bill for city well work from perchlorate contamination still in
dispute
The city says more can be done, but an Olin Corp. official says the firm is doing more than they’ve been asked.
According to Rick McClure, Olin’s project manager for the South Valley perchlorate contamination cleanup project, Olin has moved with great speed to handle the current problem.
“Everyone has been surprised by the speed and efficiency that Olin has responded,” he said. “No where else have clean up efforts been like the one in Morgan Hill.”
McClure went on to say that Olin is still looking into ways to improve the process.
According to McClure, the city gave him a list of tasks that laid out what they needed to be done. He said that they needed to do studies on the groundwater and the soil.
“We are doing further tests to achieve full redemption this fall,” said McClure. “We have met every item on the list.”
That is not the case, countered City Attorney Helene Leichter. She said Olin was supposed to submit a plan to the city but they have not received any.
Several municipal wells in Morgan Hill, hundreds of private wells in Morgan Hill and San Martin and, lately Gilroy were contaminated by a perchlorate leak into the underground aquifer, a fact for which Olin has repeatedly said it would be responsible.
For 40 years the chemical was used as a byproduct in the manufacture of highway safety flares at Olin’s plant on Tennant and Railroad avenues.
Because Olin has taken responsibility for the contamination, they have also agreed to pay for the cleanup. In March, they sent a check for $455,384.50 to the city for part of the costs. The city has refused to cash the check until they received written proof that it will not be the final payment.
“We appreciate their good-faith effort,” said Leichter in April, “but we feel that, to accept the check at this time would send the wrong signal. We expect them to remain accountable for what they have acknowledged as their responsibility.”
According to McClure the check was sent as a partial payment that was agreed upon with the city.
“We agreed that the check will not be the final payment,” he said. “We have not seen the check, nor has it been cashed. We don’t know where it is.”
“We have asked Olin to say in writing that this will not be final payment.,” said Leichter. “Under California law, if we cash a check than that payment can count as the full payment. We’re waiting for clarification that this is not the final payment, in writing. We would hate to cash the check and have Olin say that they no longer owe any money.”
A second reason for the city holding onto, but not cashing, the check is because it is waiting to settle the matter of responsibility for future claims, generally called indemnification. Leichter said that accepting the money could also be seen as exempting Olin from indemnifying the city against future liability should the city be sued for serving perchlorate-contaminated water that caused harm.
FILTERING WELLS
Olin has come out against having filters to treat the water in the city wells.
McClure says that while the filters may clean the water coming out of the well, the contamination could spread.
“It could jeopardize testing results,” said McClure. “It will pull perchlorate from shallower areas to deeper parts.”
According to testing conducted by the city, much of contamination lies in shallower areas of the aquifer.
In a letter dated May 13 to the Regional Water Quality Control Board, Olin Vice President of Environment and Human Safety Curt M. Richards says that the water needs do not support the risks involved.
“Testing such technology at the Tennant Avenue well may, in fact, unnecessarily complicate on-site remediation,” said Richards. “Olin does not believe that the water supply needs of (Morgan Hill )… override the potential for these very real impacts.”
Leichter contends that it is vital for the city to turn the wells on, despite what Olin says.
“We have taken steps to protect our water supply,” she said. “If we need to turn (the wells) on, we will turn them on. … If it wasn’t for Olin then (perchlorate) wouldn’t be there.”
In July, Olin began picking up the tab for delivering water to people affected by the contamination. Previously the Santa Clara Valley Water District shouldered the cost. The water district expects to be reimbursed by Olin at a later date. The exact cost of the water delivery program is not yet available, but the water district says it has spent $1.3 million on perchlorate-related matters since January.
