GILROY
– The City of Gilroy entered into a binding agreement Monday
with three other public agencies that represent
perchlorate-affected constituents.
GILROY – The City of Gilroy entered into a binding agreement Monday with three other public agencies that represent perchlorate-affected constituents. The agreement opens the door to joint litigation against the company that contaminated South County aquifers with the toxic rocket fuel.
By next week, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Santa Clara County and the Santa Clara Valley Water District are expected to sign a so-called prosecution/defense confidentiality agreement. The agreement allows the agencies to share, among other items, the following things:
• documents, factual material and memoranda
• mental impressions (for instance, legal interpretations)
• interview reports
• litigation strategies
By signing the agreement, the agencies – which already sit on a perchlorate working group together – can exchange information without violating or waiving attorney-client privileges.
“All four agencies are sitting down, going over sensitive legal matters, so we need confidentiality,” City Administrator Jay Baksa told City Council Monday.
City officials currently are not pursuing legal action against Olin Corp., but Gilroy will be “offering information” to the state’s water quality board soon and “may need to be involved in litigation down the road,” Baksa said.
“We may need to take legal action as one body,” Baksa told Council.
Council unanimously approved the confidentiality agreement Monday, but not until after Councilman Roland Velasco asked about the city attorney’s role in working with other agencies. The notoriously cautious lawmaker wanted assurances that Gilroy’s lawyer would be representing the interests of Gilroy first and foremost, rather than spending time fighting for an out-of-town cause.
Baksa said each party would be responsible for its own legal counsel, the agreement simply allows those attorneys to communicate more freely.
The source of South County perchlorate contamination is a now defunct road flare factory in Morgan Hill which used to be operated by Olin Corp. Perchlorate, a salt that is harmful to thyroid function, is a main ingredient in flares and rocket fuel. It has been found in roughly 450 private wells in Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy.
Of the nearly 450 contaminated wells between Tennant Avenue in Morgan Hill and north Gilroy, six are located south of Leavesley Road, bringing the city more deeply into the perchlorate mix in recent months.
The city uses only wells for its drinking water supply. As of the most recent testing, each of the city’s eight drinking water wells are not contaminated with perchlorate.
