Perchlorate cleanup order a mixed bag

1. Morgan Hill officials wanted a broader order

There’s good news and not-so-good news in the recent perchlorate cleanup order issued by the Regional Water Quality Control Board. 

First the good news: In its order, the board did not yield to Olin’s arguments that it should be required to clean up only the most polluted area known as Zone A. 

Olin argued that it should only be required to do “attenuated monitoring” – basically wait and see – outside of Zone A. 

Instead, the water board decreed that Olin must also actively remediate  the next-most-polluted area known as Zone B.

But it’s not all good news.

The board did not order – as Morgan Hill officials requested – that Olin clean up the entire water basin from which the city draws water. 

In addition, the board has yet to settle on a timeline and required cleanup methods for Zone A and Zone B. Much depends on the board getting those details right in subsequent orders.

To ensure that it does, residents, employees and elected officials from Morgan Hill, Gilroy, the county, and the Santa Clara Valley Water District must remain vigilant and attentive.

1. Expenses remain unreimbursed

Finally, the matter of forcing Olin to reimburse those agencies for expenses they incurred in dealing with the perchlorate plume remains unresolved.

In Morgan Hill alone, millions have been spent on dealing with perchlorate-contaminated wells, on consultant fees and on legal expenses. Morgan Hill’s water customers pay a hefty perchlorate surcharge to pay for those costs.

If Olin truly wanted to be a good corporate citizen in this matter, as one Olin official claimed shortly after the perchlorate plume was discovered, it would voluntarily reimburse each agency for every expense it incurred as a result of the perchlorate pollution from Olin’s now-shuttered road flare factory.

But that’s not likely to happen, so we urge these agencies to work together to find a way to make sure that taxpayers are reimbursed for the financial burden that this perchlorate pollution unfairly placed on them.

ACT NOW

Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board

895 Aerovista Place, Suite 101

San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

(805) 549-3147

Olin Corporation

190 Carondelet Plaza, Ste. 1530

Clayton, MO 63105-3443