Probe Seeks Origin, Effects of Valley Water Pollution

Federal and local environment officials have launched an investigation to determine the origin and effects of groundwater contamination in the San Fernando Valley, authorities said Tuesday.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power sent joint letters to about 65 companies and firms Monday ordering them to submit details about previous methods of disposing of hazardous waste, EPA spokesman Terry Wilson said.

“We have sent letters to potentially responsible parties who may have contributed to problems in the area,” Wilson said.

The companies include General Motors in Van Nuys, Lockheed-California in Burbank, the ITT control division in Glendale and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge.

Since 1980, high concentrations of two industrial solvents--trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, also called TCE and PCE--have been detected in water drawn from DWP wells in North Hollywood and Burbank. Most wells contained between 100 and 400 parts of contaminant per 1 billion parts of water. The state-set limit is 4 parts per billion.

The DWP prevented excessive levels of toxins from entering drinking supplies by closing the worst wells and blending clean water with water from less contaminated wells.

San Fernando Valley wells supply about 15% of Los Angeles’ drinking water.

Lockheed officials last Friday submitted an outline to state and local officials of their planned efforts to reduce groundwater contamination beneath the company’s Burbank plant. Tests in the area have detected levels of 12,000 parts per billion of PCE in the groundwater.

State water quality officials said they would not be able to comment on Lockheed’s outline until Friday.