Initial Payment OKd for Water Cleanup

Aerojet General Corp. and six other companies that allegedly contributed to the San Gabriel Valley ground water pollution agreed Friday to resume negotiations with local water producers over cleaning up the aquifer, while paying $4.1 million in preliminary costs, officials said.

“Up to now, there had been a lot of talk and not much action,� Bob Kuhn of the San Gabriel Basin Water Quality Authority said in a press release. “We have made a significant breakthrough.�

The $4.1 million, the first major sum of money to exchange hands, is a repayment for treatment costs already incurred by the water agencies. But more important, the companies pledged to work in good faith toward a broad plan to clean up the 16-year-old Superfund site, whose total costs are expected to reach $160 million, officials said.

Originally, health officials were mainly concerned with removing industrial solvents from the water, which was inexpensive by comparison. But the price of cleanup skyrocketed in 1997 when officials discovered a toxic byproduct of rocket fuel, called perchlorate, in the water supply. No treatment facilities at the time could deal with the chemical, which can stunt growth by affecting the thyroid gland.

The aquifer is the principal source of drinking water for more than 1 million people, but wells in areas around Baldwin Park, Azusa, Irwindale and West Covina have been shut down because of the contamination.

Aerojet, the principal polluter, offered to pay $48 million for the entire cleanup last June. Negotiations broke down when that offer was rejected by water purveyors as too low.

Now, with Friday’s announcement, local officials are optimistic that a definitive agreement can be reached by the federal deadline of Feb. 1, ending years of squabbling over the issue.

“This is a significant step toward a comprehensive cleanup agreement that will meet local water supply needs,� said Carol Williams, executive officer of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster.

Williams said the $4.1 million is an “encouraging indication of the [companies’] commitment to work with us and reach a definitive agreement.�

In a press release from Aerojet, the company touted the deal as well, saying that it will provide major improvements to water treatment systems, protect against rate increases and meet all federal EPA standards for Superfund cleanup.

Still, if both sides do not reach a final agreement by Feb. 1, the local agencies said, they would pay for treatment facilities themselves and sue the companies for the costs. Superfund litigation is notoriously costly and slow.

The Environmental Protection Agency has designated 19 companies as the “primary responsible parties� for the pollution. The seven included in Friday’s agreement are Aerojet, Azusa Land Reclamation, Hartwell Corp., Huffy Corp., Oil and Solvent Process Co., Reichhold Inc., and Wynn Oil Co.

Local water officials say the other 12 companies will still have to pay their share of the costs.