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B.F Goodrich site added to U.S. EPA’s Superfund list

Release Date: 09/23/2009
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, 213 244 1815, arcaute.francisco@epa.gov

For Immediate Release: September 23, 2009
Contact: Francisco Arcaute
(213) 244-1815, Cell (213) 798-1404
arcaute.francisco@epa.gov

LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has added the B.F. Goodrich site in western San Bernardino County, Calif. to the Superfund National Priorities List, the federal program that cleans up the nation's uncontrolled hazardous waste sites.

Since the 1940’s, the B.F. Goodrich site has been used to store, test and manufacture munitions, rocket motors, and pyrotechnics by the government and businesses. The area’s groundwater is contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchlorate, forcing the closure of public drinking water supply wells in the communities of Rialto and Colton.

“Adding B.F. Goodrich to the Superfund list gives the EPA the needed tools to clean up the site,” said Keith Takata, Director of the EPA’s regional Superfund program. “The EPA is committed to making sure that the cost of cleanup is borne by those responsible for the contamination.”

The EPA proposed adding B.F. Goodrich to the Superfund National Priorities List in 2008.

Since 2002, the EPA and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board have worked to investigate and clean up the B.F. Goodrich site. In 2006, investigation and cleanup efforts stalled when the potentially responsible parties presented legal challenges to state cleanup efforts. The EPA has since spent over $3 million to complete required soil and groundwater testing before the actual cleanup can begin. The EPA expects to release a plan to begin cleanup at a portion of the site later this year.

Trichloroethylene, or TCE, is a metal cleaning solvent. Drinking or breathing high levels of trichloroethylene may cause damage to the nervous system, liver and lungs. Perchlorate is an ingredient in solid rocket propellant and many pyrotechnics, and may affect the thyroid gland.

To date, 1607 sites have been placed on the National Priorities List, of which 105 are in California. Nationally, construction has been completed at 1067 of the 1607 sites.

For more information on the BF Goodrich Superfund site, please visit:
https://www.epa.gov/region09/bfgoodrich

For the Federal Register notice and supporting documents, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/current.htm

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