EPA Adds 12 : 34 Firms May Be Liable for Cleanup Costs

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has told a dozen more Burbank-area firms that they may be ordered to help clean up chemically tainted San Fernando Valley ground water supplies under the federal Superfund program.

With the latest EPA notices, mailed earlier this month, 34 companies or property owners have been warned that they “may be potentially liable” for costs of the Burbank phase of the cleanup, which alone is estimated at $70 million. The companies are in Burbank, except for four in Sun Valley or North Hollywood.

Although the letters did not accuse the companies of polluting ground water supplies, an EPA official said “a large portion” of them will soon get follow-up letters alleging that they are liable and asking them to take over the cleanup work.

Costly Treatment System

These letters could go out by late March, when the EPA is expected to give the go-ahead for a costly treatment system in Burbank intended to cleanse polluted water and block pollution from invading more wells, said Paula Bisson, Superfund state programs chief for the EPA in San Francisco.

Under the Superfund program, federal funds are advanced to investigate and clean up toxic waste, but those responsible for the pollution are required to take over the work or pay the tab if they can be identified.

A vast area of the Valley ground water basin, stretching from North Hollywood into the Verdugo Mountains, is contaminated by trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), chemical solvents used in metal degreasing and dry cleaning. The contamination exists in low concentrations of only parts per billion, but experts believe that there may be a small additional risk of cancer for those drinking the water over many years.

Of five water utilities that rely on Valley ground water, only the city of San Fernando has been spared. Burbank and Glendale, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, and the Crescenta Valley County Water District have 112 wells--with TCE or PCE exceeding health standards in more than half the wells.

By pumping their cleaner wells or mixing well water with surface supplies, Los Angeles, Glendale and the Crescenta district have continued to rely on ground water. But Burbank, where pollution levels are highest, has had to temporarily abandon its wells, relying instead on more expensive water from the Metropolitan Water District.

Last year, the EPA proposed building a series of extraction wells in Burbank along with a dozen aeration towers. The towers remove solvents from water as vapor, which is then captured by carbon filters. The system, estimated to cost about $70 million to build and run for 20 years, would treat 12,000 gallons of water per minute and would provide drinking water for about 100,000 people. It would also serve as a barrier, blocking the advance of pollution from northwest to southeast toward wells near Griffith Park.

Final approval of the Burbank treatment project is expected by the end of next month. About the same time, the EPA could begin sending “special notice” letters to companies that it deems liable, Bisson said.

Such companies have considerable incentive to reach a cost-sharing agreement. If they refuse to contribute and their responsibility later is established in court, they can be made to pay cleanup costs plus treble damages.

Still, it appears that evidence against some of the companies remains scanty. In fact, with one exception, none of the 34 firms are confirmed polluters of ground water, according to state records that are the EPA’s main source of data.

The exception is Lockheed Aeronautical Systems Co., whose huge production complex is just uphill from the Burbank wells. Ground water samples from beneath the plant have shown TCE and PCE concentrations as high as 7,800 p.p.b. and 43,000 p.p.b., respectively. On its own, Lockheed is already extracting and treating 1.5 million gallons of ground water per day and is expected to be asked to take part in the Burbank project.

The other 33 are among dozens of Valley companies that have conducted soil or ground water studies during the last five years under orders from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board. EPA officials acknowledge that data in the files of the regional board is their main source of information on potential polluters.

Some of the companies had to remove leaky fuel or chemical tanks and clean up contaminated soil. But in many of the cases, the pollution had not penetrated to ground water, which is about 200 feet below the surface. Other investigations continue, with no determination yet if the problem is “limited to soil contamination or is . . . beyond that to ground water,” said Hank Yacoub, supervising water quality engineer with the regional board.

Bisson would not discuss the strength of evidence against the companies. She acknowledged that “Lockheed definitely stands out,” but said the EPA felt it had enough information “to at least notice the other 33 companies.”

The latest batch of notices included one to Crane Co.’s Hydro-Aire division in Burbank, an aerospace firm.

Reading from a written statement, Tom Ungerland, associate general counsel at Crane’s headquarters in New York, called Hydro-Aire “a responsible citizen on environmental matters. From what we know to date, we do not believe that Hydro-Aire has any liability for the contamination of the San Fernando Valley water supply.”

The EPA notice was not the worst news received of late by one of the companies, Lawrence Engineering & Supply. The Burbank manufacturer of aircraft fasteners was indicted Thursday along with two former officials on charges of selling substandard nuts and bolts used in the space shuttle and commercial jets.

For Deltron Engineering, a Burbank machine shop, the EPA was merely another piece of stunning news, Vice President Toni Kuebler said. Kuebler said the small company is spending thousands of dollars on tests because PCE was found in soil on company property. Kuebler said the firm never used PCE since moving there in 1983. He said he suspects a welding shop formerly on the site or the metal plating business next door.

The full cleanup cost for the Valley ground water could exceed $100 million.