Navy to Help Remove Pollutants From Ground Water Near El Toro

Orange County water officials on Thursday announced a historic $169-million deal with the U.S. Navy and the Irvine Ranch Water District to remove ground-water contaminants, including a hazardous chemical from the former El Toro Marine base that threatens local drinking-water supplies.

After seven years of contentious negotiations with the Navy and the Justice Department, the Orange County Water District board of directors on Wednesday approved a settlement that calls for the Navy to pay $27.5 million through 2045 to remove a subterranean plume of trichloroethylene, or TCE, that was discovered migrating from the base in 1985.

TCE, a cancer-causing compound that is the most commonly found chemical at Superfund sites, was widely used as a degreaser and aircraft engine cleaner at El Toro and military bases around the country.

Water district officials said Thursday that the Navy also would retain liability for any base-related pollutants discovered in the future.

“It was a difficult chore to try to get the Department of the Navy and the Department of Justice to admit they were responsible for this,” said Bill Mills, general manager of OCWD, which manages the ground-water basin below the northern part of the county. “The agreement, we believe, is fully protective of everyone.”

An environmental official with the Navy in San Diego declined to comment on the settlement and referred all questions to the Department of Justice. Attempts to reach the attorney negotiating the agreement were unsuccessful Thursday.

The Irvine Ranch Water District announced it would pay $109.5 million for a 40-year project aimed at reducing salt and nitrate contamination in ground water near the base. Those minerals are believed to have entered the ground water naturally and from past farming and ranching in the area.

Ratepayers will not be affected, because the purified water will replace costly imported drinking water from Northern California and the Colorado River, Irvine Ranch Water District officials said.

The Metropolitan Water District has awarded $32 million in grant funds to help pay for the $141.5-million treatment project.

“This entire area was unusable for years because of high salts, high nitrates and, more recently, volatile organic compounds,” Mills said. “This will be a benefit for generations to come.”

The TCE contamination is 200 feet underground and stretches from the closed base into Irvine. The plume, which is a mile wide and five miles long, creeps about a foot each day toward the county’s water supply. It would take the plume at least 14 years to reach the drinking water, said Jenny Glasser, a spokeswoman for the county water district.

Cleanup Won’t Affect Base Reuse Plans

The carcinogenic plume is only one of the environmental problems emanating from the El Toro base, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has declared a federal Superfund cleanup site. The ground-water cleanup won’t affect base reuse plans.

The Navy will pay $7.5 million in capital costs, and $500,000 annually for operations and management of the treatment facility, which is expected to be built by 2005 and operational through 2045, said Steven Conklin, OCWD’s associate general manager for engineering and construction.

The Navy also retains liability for undiscovered pollution, which had been a sticking point for years. As recently as last year, the Navy offered to pay $8 million for plume cleanup “in exchange for not being held responsible for any future liability that could result from ‘unknown contaminants,’ ” according to a state water board report.

In the agreement announced Thursday, the Navy agreed to a “reopener” clause that allows county water officials to return to the federal government if pollution is worse than current studies show or if new pollution is discovered, Mills said. The Navy also agreed to buy a $20-million insurance policy.

“We felt the public deserved the protection to have the ability to go back under dire circumstances to the federal government,” said Paul D. Jones, general manager of the Irvine Ranch Water District.

But EPA spokeswoman Lisa Fasano said that even without a liability clause, a “polluter is responsible for the pollution that they leave--now and forever.”

Ground water containing the cancer-causing chemical will be piped to a new treatment facility to be built near Sand Canyon Avenue and Barranca Parkway. The water will be treated by reverse osmosis, or sifting it through screens to remove contaminants.

The water then will be trickled over Ping-Pong-like plastic balls while air is blown through them. Using the air and carbon filters, the TCE is trapped and burned.

The treated water next will be disinfected with chlorine, then piped for agricultural use. The process is expected to yield 2,500 acre-feet of water per year, enough to cover 2,500 acres with one foot of water. One acre-foot is enough to supply two families for a year.

In a second treatment facility to be built at the same location, salt and nitrate-contaminated water will be treated by reverse osmosis, then disinfected with chlorine and ammonia, Conklin said. That is expected to produce 6,400 acre-feet of water a year, enough to supply 12,800 average families.

The Irvine Ranch Water District’s board of directors is expected to vote Monday on the agreement. The Justice Department, Department of the Navy and the EPA also must approve.