Pasadena : Water Cleanup Contract

A $1.1-million contract was awarded by the city directors to the Calgon Carbon Corp. to remove pollutants from four city-owned water wells in the Arroyo Seco Canyon.

The company will build a temporary treatment plant along the east side of the canyon to remove volatile organic chemicals from ground-water wells that were shut down by the city from 1985 to 1989 when the pollutants were discovered.

Under a settlement with the city reached earlier this month, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory will reimburse all costs of the treatment plant. JPL has acknowledged that it played a role in contaminating the wells with industrial solvents.

Once the water treatments are completed, the city will be able to draw water from the four wells, saving it $860,000 a year in funds used to purchase replacement water from the Metropolitan Water District.