Clean up of perchlorate plume near Barstow receives $2.67 million grant

Funds issued by the State Water Resources Control Board’s Site Cleanup Subaccount Program (SCAP) to the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board has made possible a $2.67 million grant to clean up a perchlorate plume near Barstow. The plume has affected several private well owners’ drinking water supplies that were contaminated with the chemical that has been used for making fireworks and solid-fuel rockets.

The funds will be used for a feasibility study and pilot project in an area northeast of Barstow in San Bernardino County. Some wells have levels of perchlorate as high as 2,400 parts per billion (ppb). The drinking water standard for the contaminant is 6 ppb. Several other wells in the area are threatened by the perchlorate plume and could be contaminated if the pollutant is not cleaned up. The Lahontan Water Board is currently providing bottled water to those private well owners’ whose wells are contaminated with perchlorate.

The pilot project will treat contaminated dirt by installing a soil-flushing unit over the area where the perchlorate salts were illegally dumped. In addition, groundwater extraction wells will be installed to capture perchlorate flushed from the soil. The extracted perchlorate-contaminated water will be treated to remove the perchlorate and the finished water will be re-injected into the aquifer. Monitoring wells will be installed to track the groundwater plume and determine the effectiveness of the treatment system.

“Cleanup will begin soon to fix a long-standing pollution problem that affects the heart of the Barstow community,” said Patty Kouyoumdjian, executive officer for the Lahontan Water Board. “We are pleased to lead this effort to ensure safe drinking water for residents.”

The Lahontan Water Board – based in South Lake Tahoe – encompasses a region that covers most of eastern California and includes most of the Inland Empire.  The district maintains an office in Victorville as well as its primary office in South Lake Tahoe. The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board is a California state agency responsible for the preservation and enhancement of the quality of California’s water resources in eastern California, including San Bernardino County.

The perchlorate-contaminated site near Barstow – once a local business owner’s private residence where the pollutant was stored — is considered an “orphan site“ because no viable responsible party can be identified as the owner is no longer living. Senate Bill 445 (Hill, 2014) allows the regional water boards to apply for grant money to clean up “orphaned sites” when there is no one to pay for the cleanup costs.

The Lahontan Water Board received the grant money from SCAP, a new program established by SB 445 authorizing grants for projects to remediate the harm to human health, safety, or the environment caused by existing or threatened surface or groundwater contamination. The Lahontan Water Board will oversee implementation of the grant-funded work, which is expected to occur in early summer 2017.

Additional information about the perchlorate plume site near Barstow can be found at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/lahontan/water_issues/programs/perchlorlate/index.shtml.