Santa Monica Well Cleanup Plan OKd

The Wilson administration reached a tentative agreement Friday with Mobil Oil Corp., requiring the company to clean up polluted water wells in Santa Monica and provide or pay for replacement water while the contaminated wells are out of commission.

Santa Monica officials, who filed suit against Mobil last month, say the city has had to replace 75% of its water supply as a result of well contamination by a gasoline additive known as MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether). The chemical is believed to have infiltrated Santa Monica’s water supply from leaking underground gas tanks.

The additive is a key component of reformulated fuel designed to cut smog. The acrid chemical is a potential health hazard and may cause cancer.

City officials, contending that they had been cut out of negotiations with Mobil, gave the agreement a qualified endorsement.

“On its face it seems to have a lot of what we want,” said Craig Perkins, who heads the city’s department of environment and public works. “But it vests all authority over the cleanup in the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, in which we have no confidence.”

Santa Monica officials hold the board responsible for much of the pollution problem, charging that the agency knew about the contamination for almost 10 years and did virtually nothing about it.

The regional board, which is responsible for protecting a large portion of Southern California’s water supply, recently was the target of a major shake-up. It has been accused of conducting shoddy investigations of pollution from underground fuel tanks.

City officials were also critical of a provision giving Mobil until March 17 to negotiate a water replacement deal with the city.

Perkins said similar negotiations broke down, leading to the lawsuit, after Mobil demanded to be able to determine the quality of the replacement water.

Santa Monica Mayor Pam O’Connor said she was in the process of working out a cleanup plan with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency when the state officials quietly stepped in and negotiated the agreement with Mobil without giving Santa Monica officials the opportunity to participate.

The agreement requires Mobil to clean up contaminated soil and ground water and to “rehabilitate” the polluted aquifers that supply city water. Failure to comply with the agreement could lead to fines of up to $6,000 a day.

James Strock, who heads the California Environmental Protection Agency, said the state stepped in “to get the ball rolling. The U.S. EPA had sought to go slower. The EPA never gave us a date certain when they would begin to act.

“The EPA will still be able to come in later if it has reason to do so,” Strock said.

Carolin Keith, a spokeswoman for Mobil, said Friday that she could not comment on the agreement until it was signed, which she expected would happen “shortly.”

She added, “Mobil remains committed to determining the source of the MTBE and developing all appropriate remediation measures.”