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U.S. EPA and Valley County Water District Break Ground on Public Water Supply Treatment Plant

Release Date: 10/17/2002
Contact Information: Lisa Fasano, 415-947-4307

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Valley County Water District today broke ground at a Baldwin Park drinking water treatment plant, which when completed will decontaminate the highest levels of toxics from drinking water within the Baldwin Park Superfund site.

     The $31 million treatment plant   the most expensive of the four plants removing contaminants from  the Baldwin Park site   will treat 7,800 gallons of ground water per minute.  The clean water will then be piped into the water distribution system of the water district and a neighboring utility.

     "This treatment system will address the most contaminated area of this site and provide the region with a safe source of drinking water," said Wayne Nastri, EPA's administration for the Pacific Southwest Region. "When completed and running, the four Baldwin Park treatment plants will clean over 10 billion gallons of water per year and deliver more than 180 billion gallons of high-quality drinking water over then next 15 years."

     "Sometimes very difficult and complex problems can be overcome with perseverance and good faith negotiations. That is the case with the Baldwin Park Operable Unit agreement," said Mark Grajeda, the district's general manager.

     The treatment plant will be owned and operated by the Valley County Water District and funded largely by eight companies responsible for the contamination. Construction is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2003.

    Because the San Gabriel Valley groundwater basin is a critical component of Southern California's water resource, the EPA and the responsible parties worked with the Valley County Water District and other local water agencies to implement a joint Baldwin Park cleanup and water supply project. Without the joint cleanup and supply agreement, the EPA and the responsible parties would have built treatment plants which pumped the water back into the ground without addressing the supply problems caused by the contamination.

"This agreement ensures that the costs of cleanup will not be passed on to the Valley County's customers," said Larry Walton, president of the Valley county Water District.

     The eight companies funding the majority of the San Gabriel Valley cleanup are: Aerojet-General Corporation, Azusa Land Reclamation Co., Inc., Fairchild Holding Corporation, Hartwell Corporation, Huffy Corporation, Oil & Solvent Process Company, Reichhold, Inc., and Wynn Oil Company.