CRYSTAL SPRINGS WELLFIELD AREA
San Fernando Valley (Area 2) is an area of contaminated groundwater covering approximately 6,680 acres near the Crystal Springs Well Field in the Cities of Los Angeles and Glendale. This area is part of the San Fernando Valley Groundwater basin, an aquifer which, prior to the discovery of contamination, had provided drinking water to over 800,000 residents of the Cities of Los Angeles, Glendale, and Burbank, and the La Crescenta Water District. Approximately three million people reside within three miles of this site. In 1980, concentrations of chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE), were found to be above Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and State Action Levels (SALs) in a number of city production wells. Those solvents were widely used in a number of industries including aerospace and defense manufacturing, machinery degreasing, dry cleaning, and metal plating. Some contaminants currently affecting the basin's water supply can be traced as far back as the 1940s, when chemical waste disposal was unregulated throughout the Valley In response to the public health threat, the cities were forced either to shut down their wells and provide alternate sources of drinking water or to blend contaminated well water with water from clean sources. A groundwater monitoring program conducted from 1981 to 1987 revealed that over 50 percent of the water supply wells in the eastern portion of the San Fernando Valley Groundwater Basin were contaminated. Approximately 50 public drinking water supply wells are located within the Area 2 site perimeter. The shutdown of these wells resulted not only in the cities turning to more expensive sources of drinking water, but in the loss of a substantial drinking water source in an area where this resource is already scarce. In 2000, a 5,000 gallon per minute (gpm) treatment plant (selected as part of the interim remedy for the site) began operation in the City of Glendale. The plant is funded by the Glendale Respondents Group (GRG) and operated by the City of Glendale with EPA oversight.
23,914 |
People living within a 1 mile radius |
N/A |
Average Income |
8,666 |
Occupied homes |
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