NORTH HOLLYWOOD : Owners of 6 Sites Asked to Pay for Toxic Cleanup
Federal authorities have asked owners and operators of six industrial sites to pay $16.8 million for the cleanup of ground water in North Hollywood that they are suspected of polluting, and have warned of a lawsuit unless a financial settlement is reached.
Areas of North Hollywood, Burbank and Glendale have been designated for cleanup under the federal Superfund program because of lake-size plumes of tainted water that have invaded clusters of municipal wells. To varying degrees, Los Angeles, Burbank and Glendale have all had to reduce their use of ground water and buy more expensive replacement supplies from the Metropolitan Water District.
The culprits are cleaning solvents, particularly trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, which have been widely used for dry cleaning and degreasing metal parts. The chemicals are thought to have been spilled or leaked by many companies over the years and to have seeped through the soil to ground water.
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