Toxic Waste Beneath Explosives Plant : Final Approval Near for SOS Cleanup

A long-planned, $872,000 cleanup of contaminated water and soil beneath an Agua Dulce explosives plant will get its last public review next week before it is given final approval by state health officials.

The cleanup is one of a pair of projects aimed at eliminating pollution deposited over 20 years at two plants--the second is in Placerita Canyon--run by Space Ordnance Systems, which manufactures explosive components of weapons and spacecraft.

Neighbors of the Agua Dulce plant said at a public hearing this week and in written comments that the planned installation of wells to extract tainted water might lower the water table throughout the area, according to John Casey, a hazardous-materials specialist for the state Department of Health Services, which ordered SOS to design and carry out the cleanup.

But Alan Opel, director of environmental affairs for TransTechnology Corp., the parent company of SOS, said geologists had determined that there would be no drop in the water level that might affect neighboring wells.

The cleanup plans come three years after raids by health and law-enforcement agencies at the two SOS plants uncovered evidence of illegal storage and disposal of hazardous chemicals. Last year, SOS officials were convicted on 10 misdemeanor charges of violating hazardous-waste laws and paid a $300,000 fine.

A study of the soil and water beneath the plants disclosed several spots where industrial solvents had tainted water and soil. Water in the earth beneath the Agua Dulce site in Mint Canyon was found to contain the toxic solvent trichloroethylene (TCE) in concentrations that slightly exceeded state-recommended limits.

The Agua Dulce plan calls for wells to be dug downhill from the plant to extract contaminated water that is flowing slowly through the earth before it can affect the surrounding ground-water basin.

The water extracted by the wells will be treated and filtered, then pumped into ponds uphill from the site. The cleansed water will percolate from the ponds through the underlying soil, where it will pick up any traces of chemicals in the soil as it sinks into the earth.

As it flows slowly downhill under the surface, it will be intercepted again by the wells and treated.

After the deadline for public comments expires next Friday, the plan will be reviewed and approved, Casey said. The $1.7-million cleanup of the Placerita Canyon site was strongly endorsed at a public hearing last spring. The two projects should begin by the end of the year, Casey said.