EPA plans chemicals cleanup of contaminated underground water plume
Mike Sprague
Whittier Daily News
09/29/2011
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected a $69.2 million plan to clean up a 4.2-mile-long contaminated underground water plume from Whittier through Santa Fe Springs to Norwalk.
The plan calls for the contaminated water to be pumped, treated and then used for drinking water, most likely by the city of Santa Fe Springs or Golden State Water Co.
The water is contaminated with solvents from the former Omega Chemical Co. Superfund site, 12504 and 12512 Whittier Blvd., a hazardous waste recycling business that was open from 1976 to 1991, said Lynda Deschambault, project manager for the EPA.
Contamination also may have come from 24 other sources in areas near the plume, Deschambault said.
"Drinking water aquifers are under a heavy strain, and this decision ensures their preservation, and the waste solvents and other chemicals were processed at the Omega plant to form commercial products," Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, said.
"The treated water ideally will be used for drinking water after it goes through the treatment chain and meets all federal and state drinking standards," he said.
The treated groundwater will meet or surpass drinking water standards, which the EPA expects will be provided to local water purveyors to serve in the surrounding community, he said.
The remedy also allows for reinjection of treated groundwater if agreements with water purveyors cannot be reached in a timely manner.
What remains to be settled is who will pay for the cleanup.
Deschambault said the EPA will negotiate with the responsible parties - already identified and paying for cleanup of the Omega plant - and other companies in or near the 4.5-mile area that still have to be identified.
But Keith Millhouse, an attorney who represents the responsible parties, said that while these companies have stepped up to pay for cleanup at the waste site, they don't believe they are necessarily responsible for the plume.
"EPA has conducted little or no investigation of responsible parties at the leading edge of the plume," Millhouse said.
"That area is heavily industrial with a large number of contributors I believe the EPA has ignored," he said. "I'm sure EPA would like our group to pay for it, but they'll have some push back."
Deschambault said the EPA has done research on the area for a number of years and it indicates the bulk of the contamination comes from the Omega site.
In addition, there are 24 other areas that contributed to the problem, and companies there also will be asked to pay, she said.
