SAN FRANCISCO The U.S Environmental Protection…
SAN FRANCISCO
– The U.S Environmental
Protection Agency announced today that it has selected an interim
remedy to capture and treat groundwater contaminated by high
concentrations of industrial solvents at the Omega Chemical
Corporation Superfund Site in Whittier, Calif. This cleanup is
estimated to cost nearly $70 million over the life of the treatment
system.
EPA selected this interim
remedy to prevent the contaminated plume of groundwater from
spreading further and threatening drinking water resources. Once
the groundwater has been extracted and treated, it is expected to
be used for drinking water for the surrounding community. EPA
successfully extracts, treats, and provides for drinking more than
100 million gallons of water every day at several other Superfund
sites in Southern California.
“EPA has taken a
critical step forward at the Omega Chemical site to reverse the
damage done to a vital resource in Southern California,” said
Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the
Pacific Southwest. “Drinking water aquifers are under a heavy
strain, and this decision ensures their preservation, and the
protection of local residents.”
Contamination from the former
Omega Chemical facility on Whittier Boulevard has created a plume
of contaminated groundwater containing trichlorethylene (TCE),
perchloroethylene (PCE), freons, and other solvents that extends
approximately four and one-half miles to the south/southwest of the
site. The plume lies beneath a large commercial/industrial area,
and numerous facilities in this area have also contributed to the
regional groundwater contamination.
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. The remedy also allows for reinjection of
treated groundwater if agreements with water purveyors cannot be
reached in a timely manner.
This is EPA’s second
Record of Decision at the Omega Chemical Corporation Superfund
Site. The first focused on contaminated groundwater and soils at
the former facility, and is being implemented by a collection of
private companies called Omega Chemical Site PRP Organized Group
(OPOG).
For more information on the
Omega Chemical site, including a copy of the Record of Decision, go
to the EPA web site: www.epa.gov/region09/OmegaChemical
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