Lockheed Finds PCE in Soil Near Water Wells

High levels of a suspected cancer-causing solvent have been found in soil beneath the Lockheed-California Co. plant in Burbank, several hundred yards from a cluster of Burbank water supply wells that are tainted by the same chemical.

In one area, a soil sample taken at a depth of 40 feet contained perchloroethylene, or PCE, at a concentration of 301,000 parts per billion.

At another section of the plant, soil gathered at a depth of 7 to 10 feet contained a PCE level of 228,000 parts per billion.

In addition to the two PCE hot spots, lower levels of PCE, toxic metals and other solvents, including trichloroethylene, or TCE, were found in soil in several areas of the plant.

The samples were taken by Lockheed consultants who have been searching the aerospace complex for evidence of leaks from dozens of underground fuel and chemical tanks.

Connection Not Proved

The findings, however, do not prove that Lockheed has contributed to the PCE and TCE pollution that has shut down most of the public water supply wells in Burbank, said Lockheed officials and representatives of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state agency that ordered the tank investigation.

They said more drilling will be needed to determine if the PCE extends deeper in the soil and has reached ground water, which is about 150 feet below the surface in the area.

“We know we do have certain problems,” Robert Miland, director of environmental affairs at Lockheed-California, said in an interview. But there’s “nothing in the findings thus far to indicate that we have contributed to the ground water contamination,” he said.

“There’s still much more testing and analysis to be done.”

Probable Action

Hank Yacoub, an engineer with the regional water quality board, said the agency will probably direct Lockheed to drill a series of monitoring wells to determine if pollution from spills and leaks has reached ground water beneath the plant.

The highest PCE reading was taken 40 feet under a Lockheed tank that is less than half a mile from the most contaminated of the Burbank wells.

PCE in the Burbank well, which is near Ontario Street and Pacific Avenue, has been measured at levels of up to 280 parts per billion, while TCE has been found at levels as high as 580 parts per billion.

There are no legal limits for these chemicals in drinking water, but the advisory state health standard is 5 parts per billion for TCE and 4 parts per billion for PCE. Above these amounts, health experts say, people who drink the water over a lifetime may slightly increase their risk of cancer.

Yacoub said the gap between the area of PCE-tainted soil and the well is “not a long distance” given geologic conditions in the area. “It’s basically sand and gravel and the permeability is very high,” he said.

Chemicals Found 5 Years Ago

Although unacceptable levels of PCE and TCE were first discovered five years ago in many eastern San Fernando Valley water supply wells, those responsible for the pollution have never been identified.

Because the solvents, which have caused cancer in test animals, have been widely used as metal degreasers and dry-cleaning agents, officials believe that past mishandling of the chemicals by many commercial and industrial establishments could have contributed to the problem.

Many of the polluted wells are too far from Lockheed for the firm to be responsible. However, there has been some speculation that Lockheed may figure in the Burbank water problem because of its proximity to those wells and the large quantity of solvents it has used over the years.

Direction of Flow

Although several solvent-laced North Hollywood wells owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power are within a mile and a half of Lockheed, a DWP official said it is likely that these wells were polluted by other sources.

Many of the contaminated North Hollywood wells are directly west of Lockheed, away from the usual path of ground water flow, which is to the south and southeast, said Laurent McReynolds, assistant chief waterworks engineer for the DWP.

Lockheed is one of 88 firms, most of them in the Valley, that was directed by the regional water quality board more than a year ago to check their buried fuel and chemical tanks for leaks.

On April 5, the company submitted the last of three reports on 135 underground tanks, sumps and clarifiers that are scattered over hundreds of acres of the Lockheed complex. Sumps and clarifiers are open tanks used to circulate liquids or treat wastes.

Several Spots Affected

Data gleaned from the reports, which cover more than 1,000 pages, indicate that petroleum, chemicals or toxic metals were discovered in soil near about 65 of the 135 tanks.

In most cases, the contamination probably resulted from surface spills or pipeline ruptures rather than from tank leaks, said Gregg & Associates Inc. of Huntington Beach, Lockheed’s consultants. Often the liquids in the suspect tanks were not found in the polluted soil, indicating that the contamination did not come from the tanks, the firm said.

During construction work last fall that was unrelated to the tank investigation, Lockheed also unearthed an old dump of unknown origin near Victory Place and the eastern end of the Burbank complex, according to correspondence in Water Quality Control Board files.

Lockheed officials said their consultants are trying to determine what was deposited in the dump, which appears to cover about half an acre and to contain mainly construction debris and some paint wastes.

Review Not Complete

Yacoub said it will probably be at least four or five weeks before water quality control board officials finish reviewing the data and prescribe further work by Lockheed.

But Miland said the company is going forward with some additional work rather than “sit on our hands” awaiting specific instructions from the board.

For example, he said, more drilling will be done to determine the vertical and lateral extent of the highest level of PCE, which was found beneath an apparently cracked concrete clarifier near Empire Avenue and Buena Vista Street. He said the company will also try to determine the extent of contamination around the other PCE hot spot near a sump west of Hollywood Way.

Miland said there will also be further investigation of a 12,000-gallon underground PCE storage tank near Hollywood Way and Vanowen Street.

One of the consultant’s reports said a “strong” chemical odor was detected during drilling near the tank and there were reports of the “tank overflowing in the past.” But a soil test did not show high PCE levels, making it necessary to test again.

Tanks to Be Tested

Miland said Lockheed will do hydrostatic testing of all suspect tanks and remove those confirmed to have leaks.

Moreover, he said, Lockheed still has to conduct soil borings near several tanks that are inside buildings. This will involve drilling through concrete floors, Miland said.

Burbank, which relies on ground water for about 10% of its public water supply, in recent years has shut down seven of its 10 wells because of PCE or TCE levels that exceed the state advisory standard.

The City of Glendale, which relies on ground water for 15% to 20% of its supply, has closed four of its 12 wells because of unacceptable solvent levels.

The DWP, which gets about 15% of its supply from Valley ground water deposits, has closed a dozen of its most polluted wells and blends water from others with clean supplies to dilute contaminant levels. Little of the well water serves the Valley; instead it is pumped to the Silver Lake and Hollywood reservoirs and supplied to customers south of the Santa Monica Mountains, McReynolds said.

No Current Hazard

Water officials say the problem does not currently pose a health hazard. The blending or shutting down of contaminated wells assures that tap water is well below advisory limits.

But they say the contamination could pose a supply problem in the event of a drought or increased future demand for water.

Moreover, they say, it is likely that the most contaminated water gradually is being pulled away from the wells that are closed toward the clean ones still being pumped.

Four well water fields in the North Hollywood-Burbank-Glendale area have been placed on the state and federal Superfund lists of priority toxic waste sites, making them eligible for government cleanup funds.

The Superfund program also requires officials to demand cleanup funds from firms determined to be responsible for toxic waste problems.

Federal Environmental Protection Agency officials say they have earmarked $1 million to launch a study later this year of the San Fernando Valley ground water problem. The study will seek to pinpoint the location of the most contaminated plumes and to determine how to intercept and filter the water en route to the wells.