San Bernardino County is cleaning up perchlorate, says commentary

From the San Bernardino Sun, this commentary by San Bernardino County Supervisor Josie Gonzales, representative of the 5th District, which includes Rialto, Bloomington and parts of Colton, Fontana and San Bernardino:

The County of San Bernardino will clean up any perchlorate in local groundwater for which it is found responsible. It is that simple.

The county has already spent $13million over the past several years treating perchlorate and supplying clean water to Rialto residents. The county’s treatment system is in place to capture any perchlorate determined to be emanating from county property purchased in 1993 for the future expansion of the Mid-Valley Landfill. Over the next several decades, the county will likely spend more than $60 million on the operation of the treatment facility.

Perchlorate was first detected in groundwater in the Rialto Colton Basin in 1997. But to date, the county is the only potentially responsible party to start a groundwater cleanup.

From day one, the county has focused its resources on fixing the problem, rather than litigation. That is why the county has settled with the cities of Rialto and Colton.

That is why the county has a draft settlement with the State Regional Water Quality Control Board to memorialize the county’s ongoing efforts to capture and treat the western perchlorate plume. That is why county lawyers are playing an active role in settlement negotiations between the state and the other potentially responsible parties on finding a solution to the eastern perchlorate plume.

The county is leading this cleanup even though the county never manufactured any perchlorate-containing materials and never introduced any perchlorate into the soils. It is just the right thing to do.

Read more of this commentary by clicking here.

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