San Martin
– Olin Corporation received marching orders this week to begin
cleaning up its pollution of the water table without delay.
San Martin – Olin Corporation received marching orders this week to begin cleaning up its pollution of the water table without delay.
In a letter sent Thursday, Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Director Roger Briggs requested the road-flare company “expeditiously” implement plans for an elaborate system of wells, pumps and treatment systems. The wells will be installed by this fall if all goes according to plan.
“It is our position that agreement on the actual … cleanup level for perchlorate in groundwater is not critical at this time,” Briggs wrote. “The most important aspect of this cleanup case is to ensure that active remediation of the Llagas Subbasin begins.”
But the system won’t be fully operational until two years from now. That’s why San Martin residents and government officials are eager to get the ball rolling.
“The idea is to implement cleanup and adjust as we go,” said Hector Hernandez, an engineer with the regional water board, speaking Thursday night in San Martin at the Perchlorate Community Advisory Group meeting.
Olin is responsible for an underground plume of perchlorate stretching southeast from the company’s old road-flare plant on Tennant Avenue, in Morgan Hill.
Perchlorate contamination was first reported by the company in February 2001 when it was trying to sell the factory.
From 1956 to 1995 Olin and Standard Fusee operated the factory where perchlorate leaked into the ground, possibly from an evaporation pond for factory water, on-site incineration of flares and accidental spills. The evaporation pond was used as an alternative to disposing polluted water into storm drains.
Perchlorate is a chemical used in rocket fuel and explosives. It is known to disrupt thyroid function and prenatal growth and development. Scientists are debating on how much perchlorate it takes to cause health problems.
Olin continues to deliver bottled water to 253 households in San Martin whose wells test above the state’s health goal for perchlorate, which is six parts per billion.
The total number of private wells affected by the pollution stands at 174, down from more than 800 more than a year ago.
Some wells are used by more than one household.
Olin’s active clean-up efforts will focus on the 550 acres directly southeast of the company’s now-closed factory.
The total extent of the company’s pollution is under debate. The Santa Clara Valley Water District hopes to shed light on the matter with a “perchlorate forensics” study in 2008 to trace chemicals from Olin and other sources.
“I know everybody would like to have this done quicker, and we would too and I am sure Olin would, but they’ve put in a huge effort and I commend them,” said Eric Gobler, senior engineer for the water board.
“We are going to make sure they keep their feet to the ground and keep moving forward.”
