Olin Corp.’s failure to deliver a complete perchlorate
contamination cleanup plan for its old road flare factory and its
decision not to pay the entire cost of drilling a new municipal
well in Morgan Hill are disturbing indicators for South Valley
residents and officials.
Olin Corp.’s failure to deliver a complete perchlorate contamination cleanup plan for its old road flare factory and its decision not to pay the entire cost of drilling a new municipal well in Morgan Hill are disturbing indicators for South Valley residents and officials.
The Regional Water Quality Board set a March 31 deadline for Olin, which has acknowledged that its now-closed factory at Tennant and Railroad avenues in Morgan Hill is the cause of a perchlorate plume moving through San Martin-area groundwater toward Gilroy, to submit a plan for cleaning up contaminated soil at the site and the accompanying groundwater pollution.
Just before the close of business Monday, the company submitted a plan for cleaning up the contaminated soil, but says it needs until June 30 to pull together its water remediation ideas.
That’s not soon enough. If Olin Corp. executives were drinking or the CEO’s children were bathing in perchlorate-tainted water, we’re confident another 90 days wouldn’t be necessary to settle on a solution.
We encourage the Regional Water Quality Control Board – which must approve any cleanup plans – to require a water remediation plan from Olin by April 30. If Olin fails to deliver by the extended deadline, the water board should drop the hammer – it can fine the company up to $1,000 a day, and it should impose the full fine. South Valley residents deserve to have a timely and thorough cleanup plan under way sooner, not later.
Then there’s the issue of Olin’s confusing partial payment of a City of Morgan Hill bill that might not have actually been an invoice.
Several months ago, the city sent what Morgan Hill City Attorney Helene Leichter described as “documentation of costs” – not a bill – of the $710,000 the city paid to replace the perchlorate-tainted Tennant Avenue well. That municipal well was the first of three Morgan Hill-owned wells to show actionable perchlorate levels. Located near the road flare factory site, the Tennant Avenue municipal well was closed in April 2002.
It’s distressing that the City of Morgan Hill and Olin Corp. can’t seem to agree on whether or not a bill was submitted or on what a timely response is (Leichter said Olin “took forever” to review the documentation) and that Olin’s partial payment of $450,000 took the city by surprise.
In what may be a bad omen for the many South Valley residents who’ve been impacted by the perchlorate contamination, Olin refused to reimburse Morgan Hill for city staff’s time and for legal expenses.
These are real costs that come out of taxpayers’ pockets and they are expenses that would not have been incurred if the perchlorate contamination hadn’t occurred. Olin should pay them and Morgan Hill has done the right thing by sending the check back to the company.
Olin also refused to indemnify the city against any legal claims that might be brought against Morgan Hill because of the perchlorate-tainted water and soil. Olin has admitted that the perchlorate contamination is its fault; it is only right that it bear the consequences – including indemnifying Morgan Hill – of causing that pollution.
We have editorialized in the past that Olin seemed to be acting responsibly in dealing with the perchlorate contamination its former factory has caused. We’ve taken residents who were quick to file suit against the company to task. Recent events, however, give us reason to reconsider.
Olin Corp. should consider its steps carefully. It should accept full responsibility for its perchlorate mess – and that means timely and full remediation of the pollution and reimbursement of all related costs. Period.
