Contaminated Water Energizes Opponents of Ahmanson Ranch

Opponents of the proposed Ahmanson Ranch development continued Tuesday to seize on evidence of contaminated ground water near the property as reason for the Ventura County Board of Supervisors to delay ground breaking.

In the second day of hearings on a new environmental study of the project, experts hired by its critics focused on perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel that can cause thyroid problems in humans.

The toxin was discovered recently in a well on Ahmanson Ranch property that the developer plans to use to irrigate golf courses. Experts disagree on where the chemical came from, but many point to Rocketdyne’s nearby Santa Susana Field Laboratory. Rocketdyne scientists have said the lab could not be the source of perchlorate found in nearby wells.

Ahmanson Ranch’s opponents warned supervisors Tuesday that the fast-migrating perchlorate could be the harbinger of further contamination, exposing Ventura County to lawsuits if the development’s future residents get sick.

“Perchlorate is serious stuff. It is dangerous stuff, particularly to our children,” said Carol Browner, who was head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in the Clinton administration.

The state Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee will conduct local hearings on perchlorate and its effects, Chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) announced this week. And state Sen. Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica) has asked the Regional Water Quality Control Board to order Ahmanson Ranch’s developers to investigate the contamination further. The board’s chairwoman had already expressed her concern.

After hearing more testimony today, the supervisors could vote today on whether to accept the supplemental study of the Ahmanson development as adequate. In particular, they are considering whether the plan protects endangered frogs and plants discovered on the property in 1999.

Representatives of Calabasas criticized the study Tuesday for not containing an up-to-date measure of the traffic the 8,700-person community would bring to the neighboring city and region.

Calabasas and the development’s other opponents have filed a series of lawsuits to stall the project and would like supervisors to delay their vote to allow more study of perchlorate.

“We need [access to] wells, we need data and we need time,” hydrogeologist Ian Goltz said.

The developer, Washington Mutual Bank, has promised it will cleanse any contaminated wells so that the water exceeds state standards. And the developer will continue to test the water as it proceeds with construction. If perchlorate lingers, those wells would be capped, Washington Mutual says.