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11 COMPANIES OFFER TO CLEAN UP BALDWIN PARK GROUNDWATER

Release Date: 9/15/1999
Contact Information: Paula Bruin, U.S. EPA, 415-744-1587

     $200 million cleanup is one of Superfund's largest ever
                               
       SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency  received a commitment  from 11 companies to begin a $200 million cleanup of the San Gabriel Valley's  drinking water supply -- one of the largest good faith offers to clean up contaminated groundwater in the history of the Superfund program.  

     "This is a huge victory for the people in the San Gabriel Valley," said Keith Takata, regional director of the EPA's Superfund division.  "These companies should be commended for presenting an offer that guarantees the long-term safety of this drinking water basin.  The EPA will make sure that the commitments in this offer are carried out."

     After lengthy negotiations, the companies have made a commitment to construct and operate wells and water treatment systems in the Baldwin Park area, which includes portions of the cities of Azusa, Irwindale and Baldwin Park.  The responsible parties will begin designing the facilities immediately and finish construction in approximately two and one-half years.  

     The next step is for the EPA and the companies to agree on a formal, legally binding consent decree in which the specifics of the project will be hammered out.  If the parties fail to agree on the details of a legal contract, the EPA is prepared to issue orders to ensure that the clean-up progresses.  The agency was on the verge of issuing such orders on the eve of the recent offer.

      The San Gabriel Valley was added to the national Superfund list after years of improper handling and disposal of industrial chemicals threatened the region's water supply.  Those chemicals include trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, and other chlorinated solvents, as well as perchlorate and NDMA, two rocket-fuel compounds.  Today the basin provides over 50 billion gallons of high quality drinking water each year to Valley residents, yet meeting federal and state water quality standards has become increasingly difficult as the contamination spreads.

      For more information about the EPA Superfund program and EPA activities in the San Gabriel Valley, check www.epa.gov/region09.