Groundwater polluter has until Dec. 6 to meet environmental
objectives and revise study
Morgan Hill – The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is giving road-flare manufacturer Olin Corporation until Dec. 6 to revise and resubmit a clean up feasibility study handed three months ago.
That could mean a two-month delay before plans to clean up the water basin move forward. Officials don’t know when an environmental remedy will be in place.
The board says Olin’s original study, which addresses a nine-mile-long plume of perchlorate stemming from Olin’s defunct factory in Morgan Hill, fails to meet state-mandated objectives for cleaning up the pollution. Namely, the company hasn’t measured the extent to which it’s responsible for the plume traveling south through San Martin and northeast of Gilroy.
“It was a little bit surprising we didn’t get as much detail as we wanted in their analysis,” said Eric Gobler, senior engineer for the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Olin submitted the plan in June. Pollution was first detected in 2000.
The board’s policy requires polluters to restore the environment to how it was before the damage occurred. The water quality control board assumes the background level of pollution in South County’s water table to be zero, unless Olin can prove otherwise. While Olin assumes other sources contributed to Perchlorate levels in the groundwater, the board says the company has failed to provide “reasonable supporting evidence” to substantiate those claims. The company’s proposed clean up levels are, therefore, baseless, Gobler said.
“The report proposes cleanup levels of 6 parts per billion. It is the board’s perspective that Olin must meet background,” Gobler said.
The board issued a letter to Olin Vice President Curt Richards Friday, detailing the board’s response to the clean up plan.
A spokesperson for Olin did not return phone calls before presstime Friday.
Santa Clara County Agricultural Commission Greg Van Wassenhove said he’s disturbed that Olin’s report fails to identify the impact perchlorate can have on the valley’s agriculture.
“There’s no mention of it in the report,” Van Wassenhove said.
Perchlorate, a type of salt that can affect healthy thyroid activity, can seep into certain crops such as spinach, lettuce and bell peppers. A new study by the federal Centers for Disease Control says minute traces of the toxic chemical found in milk, fruits, vegetables and drinking water lowers essential thyroid hormones in women who are pregnant, thyroid deficient or have low iodine levels. They are at heightened risk from exposure to perchlorate.
“We don’t know what the dietary risk is. Sure, we know perchlorate is in the produce. But if someone eats a whole head of lettuce, is that enough to cause a reaction?” Van Wassenhove said, adding there is a growing consensus to do a risk assessment study of perchlorate and agriculture.
Asked when he hopes to see a clean up plan implemented, Gobler said “as soon as possible.” But he was unable to map out a date. After Olin resubmits its plan of action, the board will require more time to review it.
As for what type of environmental remedy is needed, Gobler said the board wants Olin to “pump and treat” affected groundwater. The board does not consider flushing the basin with foreign water to reduce perchlorate levels a viable solution, Gobler said.
At a community meeting Friday at the San Martin Lion’s Club, San Martin Resident Bob Cerruti asked water board engineer Hector Hernandez why Olin doesn’t test wells west of San Martin – out of the perchlorate’s reach – to determine a background contamination level for the entire Llagas Subbasin.
“That would be a very good thing for Olin to do,” Hernandez said.
Tony Burchyns covers the county for the Dispatch. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@mo*************.com.
