MORGAN HILL
– Morgan Hill City Hall is not pleased with Olin Corp. and the
northeast groundwater flow. Nor are city officials particularly
pleased with the Regional Water Quality Control Board. But it could
be worse.
MORGAN HILL – Morgan Hill City Hall is not pleased with Olin Corp. and the northeast groundwater flow. Nor are city officials particularly pleased with the Regional Water Quality Control Board. But it could be worse.
According to a Feb. 19 letter from the Regional Board’s CEO, Roger Briggs, to Olin, the company responsible for polluting South Valley’s groundwater with perchlorate, Olin will have to keep an eye on the groundwater’s movement as it moves northeast of the site but that’s all. It won’t have to test for perchlorate.
The City of Morgan Hill – and ultimately residents – pay for that every month.
Briggs’ letter does leave open the possibility of sampling (testing) for perchlorate.
“A final decision regarding perchlorate sampling will be made after we receive the anticipated April 16, 2004, report.” This will be a detailed groundwater flow assessment report.
Olin so far won’t be made to remove the perchlorate or, so far, pay for any problems it causes the city or residents with private wells – northeast of Tennant Avenue.
“The letter still does not ask them to test for perchlorate,” said Ed Tewes, city manager.
“It’s a little better than Olin’s original proposals,” he said, “even though there is no requirement to test.”
Tewes looks to the April 16 report for some relief.
While Olin proposes to build two new monitoring wells to track the flow path, the Regional Board wants “as many off-site wells as needed to adequately characterize” levels and prepare maps “between the site and the Nordstrom Park well.”
“You’d think that, if they wanted to know which way the water flows, they would also want to know what’s in the water,” Tewes said.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District asked that Olin not use the district’s data to estimate the flow; Olin does plan to drill two new monitoring wells to track the flow. However the Regional Board, in the Feb. 19 letter, said they must build as many wells as necessary to track water flow between the Tennant Avenue site and the Nordstrom Park well.
Tewes said the City Council will see a staff report on Olin, the Regional Board and the April 16 requirements, in the March 3 agenda packet.
