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EPA AND ADEQ ANNOUNCE COMPLETION OF A SECOND GROUNDWATER TREATMENT PLANT AT THE MOTOROLA 52nd STREET SUPERFUND SITE

Release Date: 10/24/2001
Contact Information: Wendy L. Chavez, Press Office, (415) 760-5422, Kurt Maurer, ADEQ Media Relations, (602) 207-4500

     Business, Local, State, and Federal Partnership Obtain Results
                               
     SAN FRANCISCO   Officials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality today toured the second groundwater treatment plant recently completed at the Motorola 52nd Street Superfund Site.

     The new treatment plant, located at the corner of 20th and Washington streets, was designed to complement the ongoing corrective action east of the 48th Street treatment plant, which has been in operation since 1992.  The second plant will specifically address containment and treatment of contaminated groundwater east of 20th Street.

     Representing a continuing partnership between Motorola Inc., Honeywell International Inc., ADEQ and the EPA, the new plant will remove chlorinated solvents, mainly trichloroethylene or TCE, first discovered in 1982, from groundwater and put the water to beneficial use for agricultural irrigation.    

     "In arid Phoenix, groundwater is a precious resource," said Keith Takata, the EPA's Superfund Director for the Pacific Southwest region.  "This project shows how well Superfund can work to restore an impaired resource and how effectively government agencies and businesses can work together to solve environmental problems."

      "Since ADEQ first identified soil and groundwater contamination at these old industrial facilities, we have worked with the companies, the community and EPA to design an effective remedy," ADEQ Director Jacqueline E. Schafer said. "The construction of this second operational unit targets additional treatment where it is needed most and represents a significant step toward a final remedy at the site."

     Motorola and Honeywell constructed the second groundwater treatment plant under an order issued by the EPA.  Construction began in March 2000 and was completed in September 2001.  The two companies are paying for construction, operation, and maintenance of these facilities.
     
     The treatment facility uses granulated activated carbon and ultraviolet oxidation to treat contaminated groundwater; this process does not create any air emissions. A line of three extraction wells will extract groundwater at a rate of approximately 4,000 gallons per minute.  After treatment, the extracted groundwater is then transported through underground pipes and discharged into the Salt River Project Grand Canal for irrigation uses.

   The site was listed on EPA's Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) in 1989 after ADEQ investigations found soil and groundwater contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The contaminated groundwater is not used as a source of drinking water. The NPL is EPA's list of sites that potentially pose the greatest long term threat to human health and the environment.