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EPA PROPOSES PLAN TO CLEAN UP GROUNDWATER AT MONTROSE/DEL AMO

Release Date: 6/25/1998
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

     (San Francisco)-- In another step in the cleanup of the Montrose and Del Amo Superfund sites, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has proposed a plan to clean up  contaminated groundwater from the two sites near Torrance, Calif.  

     "We believe this plan will transform a large amount of polluted groundwater to a viable drinking water source for the people of southern Los Angeles County," said Keith Takata, U.S. EPA's Superfund director. "It will also stop contamination from spreading to other groundwater sources."

     The public is invited to attend a community meeting and comment on the plan on Saturday, July 25, 1998 at the Torrance Holiday Inn, 19800 S. Vermont St., in Torrance. EPA will present an informational workshop from 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. and will receive formal comments from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.  

     Groundwater at the Montrose and Del Amo sites is contaminated with chemicals in a plume that extends more than a mile and reaches depths of up to 300 feet. While no one is drinking the contaminated water today, the state of California has classified the groundwater as potential drinking water.  EPA is concerned that the contamination could continue to spread, affecting drinking water wells, or that someone may use the water in the future.
     
     EPA proposes to clean a large portion of the groundwater to drinking water standards. There are certain groundwater areas that are polluted with highly-concentrated chemicals that cannot be cleaned to drinking water standards. Under the plan, the contamination in these areas will be contained and closely monitored to prevent contamination of clean groundwater.

     Under the plan, U.S. EPA will extract groundwater contaminated with benzene, chlorobenzene,  trichloroethylene (TCE), and a host of other chemicals. The extracted groundwater will then be treated to federal and state drinking water standards, and most of it will be discharged back into the aquifer, where it can ultimately be used for drinking water. EPA is proposing to discharge a small amount of the treated water to a storm drain system. The cleanup is estimated to cost about $30 million.
 
     DDT has been found in surface soils at and adjacent to the Montrose Chemical Corp. property, in stormwater runoff channels, sanitary sewer lines, and on some Torrence neighborhood properties. In a recent decision, EPA announced that in late July it will excavate remaining DDT from these neighborhood properties. At the Del Amo site, EPA approved a plan last September to cap waste pits and clean underlying contaminated soil.

     The 270-acre Del Amo site was a synthetic rubber manufacturing facility from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s, and wastes from the facility were disposed of in pits, which are contaminated with volatile organic compounds. The 13-acre Montrose Chemical Corporation site was the location of a plant that manufactured the pesticide DDT from 1947 until 1982.  Operations included manufacturing, grinding, packaging, and distributing the pesticide.  DDT was a widely-used pesticide until 1972 when it was banned in the United States for most purposes. DDT was a widely-used pesticide until it was banned for most purposes in the United States in 1972.

     The Del Amo site was placed on U.S. EPA's National Priority List (NPL) in 1997, and Montrose in 1989. The NPL is U.S. EPA's list of hazardous waste sites potentially posing the greatest long-term threat to public health and the environment. U.S. EPA identifies and ranks NPL sites according to threats to nearby populations through actual or potential contamination of groundwater, surface water or air.

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