Polluted Wells in East Valley : DWP Pleads for Rush on Cleanup

The governing board for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Thursday urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to speed the cleanup of contaminated ground water in the East San Fernando Valley.

The DWP board asked the EPA to provide $2 million from the federal toxic-cleanup Superfund to finance measures designed to prevent the spread of ground-water contamination.

A dozen wells in the North Hollywood area have been shut because of unacceptable levels of trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), both potential carcinogens. Water drawn from a dozen more less-polluted wells is being blended with clean supplies to reduce contamination to acceptable levels.

The DWP has proposed the construction of an aeration tower that would evaporate contaminants into the air. An earlier proposal to build the tower (which DWP officials steadfastly maintain is safe) near homes led state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) to introduce legislation requiring residents near such facilities to be notified in advance of public hearings.

However, DWP officials, citing aesthetic reasons, later chose a new site for the 40-foot tower at a maintenance yard in an industrial area at 11875 Vose St. in North Hollywood.

Laurent McReynolds, assistant chief engineer for the DWP, said Thursday that the utility would seek the approval of the South Coast Air Quality Management District to build the tower there if EPA provides the funds.

McReynolds said the aeration tower, although proposed as a step to prevent the spread of ground-water contamination, may also be the best way to clean up the tainted wells.

“We feel this is going to go a long ways to being the permanent solution,” he said.

The board also called on the EPA Thursday to release a second, previously committed $2 million to finance a DWP study on the extent of the contamination and on ways to clean it up. EPA administrator Lee Thomas is holding up money for new toxic cleanup projects until Congress decides on how much to allot the Superfund.

The board also asked the federal agency to reduce the time required for the study, from the usual two or three years to eight or nine months. “We have done enough studying,” McReynolds said. “We know enough about the contamination in North Hollywood.”

It will take more time, he said, to develop a cleanup plan for tainted wells in Burbank, Glendale and La Crescenta because less is known about the problem there, McReynolds said.