MORGAN HILL
– After six long years of study, lawsuits and negotiations, the
City of Morgan Hill and the school district accepted a $1.575
million settlement in the case of the gasoline additive MTBE that
escaped into an underground aquifer from a leaky fuel tank.
MORGAN HILL – After six long years of study, lawsuits and negotiations, the City of Morgan Hill and the school district accepted a $1.575 million settlement in the case of the gasoline additive MTBE that escaped into an underground aquifer from a leaky fuel tank.
The lawsuit was filed in 1997 against the construction firm that installed the piping and tank system in 1987 at the joint City of Morgan Hill/Morgan Hill School District corporation yard on Edes Court. School buses and city vehicles fill up with fuel on site.
The piping failed sometime before 1995 when it was discovered, allowing the chemical to enter the groundwater, forcing expensive clean-up efforts.
Remediation efforts that started in 1996, are ongoing and expensive, according to Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft.
He estimated the total cost of cleaning the aquifer will be more than triple the settlement.
“We are very pleased that we will be recouping our attorneys’ fees and part of the cleanup costs,” said City Attorny Helene Leichter. “It was a good settlement for all parties.”
Deputy Superintendent of Schools Bonnie Tognazzini said the district had a specific limit of what it would accept.
“The $1.575 million was very close to what the board felt would settle the case,” Tognazzini said Thursday.
But city officials estimate it will take at least $4 million more to continue to treat the problem for the next decade.
