Our View: Olin Corp. can’t simply set its own safe level of
perchlorate. The company needs to adhere to standards set by the
state
Audacious is one way to describe Olin Corp.’s decision to clean South County’s groundwater to 11 parts per billion, a perchlorate level that is nearly twice the state’s public health goal of 6 ppb.
It certainly isn’t good corporate citizenship, which is what Olin promised to exhibit when news that its now-closed road flare factory in south Morgan Hill had polluted the groundwater that feeds more than 1,000 South County wells with perchlorate.
“It’s a valid number, based on scientifically sound and technically competent analysis,” Olin project manager Rick McClure said of the
11 ppb goal.
That’s simply beside the point. For example, if the highway patrol stops a driver for going 85 mph in a 65-mph zone, the speeding driver will still get a ticket, despite an argument that 85 mph is a valid and safe speed based on scientifically sound and competent analysis.
The state says perchlorate should be present at levels no more than 6 ppb, and that’s the standard to which Olin must be held.
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has ordered the company to clean the water to the “background level,” or the level at which perchlorate was present in the water before Olin’s road flare factory polluted it.
The problem with that is that we don’t have data from 1955, the year Olin began operating the road flare factory in Morgan Hill, to know what the level of perchlorate was 51 years ago. However, given the levels found in the majority of the contaminated wells, and the proximity of the wells with the highest levels of perchlorate to the factory site, the background level wasn’t anywhere near 11 ppb.
Because we can’t know what the true “background level” of perchlorate is, it’s an unenforceable standard. However, the state of California’s health goal of 6 ppb is clear and achievable.
It’s time to stop playing games.
South County’s local government agencies and residents need to bring heavy pressure to bear.
Olin should not be allowed to get away with this cheap-trick effort to duck its responsibility. There’s a lot of money at stake for Olin, but there’s more at stake for South County residents: Clean water is priceless.
