Cities Urged to Unite on Tainted Wells Problem

Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy warned San Gabriel Valley city officials this week that cleanup of the area’s contaminated ground water will not become a high priority for the state unless local leaders unite and press for political action.

Speaking at a meeting of area city officials and water company executives in Baldwin Park, McCarthy urged the cities to focus on steps that need to be taken, then apply political pressure on the governor and the Legislature.

McCarthy suggested that civic leaders start by supporting efforts of Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte) to step up the inspection of underground storage tanks, which may be leaking chemicals into the ground water.

McCarthy said there are 8,000 underground tanks in the San Gabriel Valley, and from 400 to 2,400 of them are probably leaking, based on the rate of leaks found in statewide inspections. The state Regional Water Quality Control Board and the county, which share authority over underground tanks, have only a few staff members working on the problem, McCarthy said. Two bills by Tanner to increase the state water quality staff were vetoed this year by Gov. George Deukmejian on grounds that underground tanks are primarily a local responsibility.

At current staffing levels, McCarthy said, “You’re just not going to get the job done.”

Several city officials who attended the meeting, organized by attorney Henry Barbosa on behalf of the State Bar’s public interest section, said they welcomed McCarthy’s suggestion that they apply political pressure to obtain aid for the area’s regional problems.

“We’re deeply concerned with air and water quality in the San Gabriel Valley,” Monrovia Mayor Paul Stuart said. “We have regional problems that are peculiar to the Valley.”

Stuart noted that 15 cities have joined in opposition to a proposed waste-to-energy incineration plant in Irwindale, largely because of concern about air quality, and said similar efforts could be undertaken to deal with ground water contamination.

He said the San Gabriel Valley’s numerous cities have not worked together closely in the past, but added, “The issues may not have been as critical then.”

Efforts to identify sources of ground water contamination “will go on for years unless San Gabriel Valley leaders insist that the staff be increased,” McCarthy said. And the leaking of chemicals into drinking water, he added, is “going to put a number of families at risk.”

Four areas of ground water contamination in the San Gabriel Valley have qualified for cleanup under both the state and federal Superfund programs. About 60 of the 400 wells in the main San Gabriel basin are so contaminated with trichloroethylene and other industrial solvents that the wells have either been shut down or the water must be blended or treated before delivery to customers.

McCarthy noted that the state has given the four contaminated ground water areas a low priority on the state Superfund list, ranking them at 165, 166, 181 and 182, apparently on the assumption that the federal Superfund will pick up most of the cost. But, McCarthy said the state needs to revise its Superfund list to give priority to sites that pose potential health hazards and whose costs are likely to escalate if action is delayed. Based on his proposed criteria, McCarthy said, San Gabriel Valley ground water contamination would move up much higher on the state list.

The lieutenant governor said the state should advance funds to clean up the most serious problems without waiting for federal aid.