Officials Heartened by Beginning of Water Cleanup Project
San Gabriel Valley water officials last week celebrated the beginning of construction on a plant to clean toxins from the Arrow Well in Baldwin Park, which was closed 11 years ago after contamination was discovered.
Representatives of the valley’s numerous water districts met for lunch Wednesday at the Holiday Inn in Monrovia to praise the Arrow Well Project as the first of many to clean up one of the most complicated water pollution problems in the West. The San Gabriel water basin, spread over 167 square miles, is one of 1,200 federal Superfund sites.
The cleanup plant is being funded by a $2.8-million grant from the State Water Resources Control Board and a $1.1-million grant from the state Department of Toxic Substance Control, said Karl Johnson, executive director of the Main San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority.
J. W. Contractors of Riverside has been awarded a $1.2-million contract to construct the Arrow plant. Stetson Engineers Inc. of West Covina will provide engineering services.
When completed in December, the plant will pump well water through eight carbon filtration units to remove about 15 pounds per day of volatile compounds, primarily trichloroethylene.
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