CLEANUP POWER LOCALIZED BILLS CLARIFY AUTHORITY OVER PERCHLORATE.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - Two bills signed this week by Gov. Gray Davis seek to protect California drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. supplies from contamination with perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. , a byproduct by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. Noun 1. of rocket fuel. Five wells in Santa Clarita have been shut because of perchlorate pollution that was first discovered in 1997 as part of the effort to clean up and develop the site of the defunct Bermite munitions mu·ni·tion n. War materiel, especially weapons and ammunition. Often used in the plural. tr.v. mu·ni·tioned, mu·ni·tion·ing, mu·ni·tions To supply with munitions. factory in Saugus in the center of the city. The legislation clarifies that regional water quality boards have the power to order companies or individuals that discharge perchlorate to provide clean water to replace polluted supplies and to keep track of current inventories of the rocket fuel ingredient. Santa Clarita city officials and members of local water agencies said the two bills - Senate Bill 1004 and Assembly Bill 826 - could provide another tool to clean up the Saugus Aquifer, which state officials say is polluted with perchlorate that leeched from the munitions factory. Davis said in a statement that, unless swiftly controlled, contamination by perchlorate ``could make much of the state's water undrinkable.'' Perchlorate has been shown to interfere with thyroid function and to pose a danger to the development of infants in concentrations as low as 1 part per billion, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and . Tests by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers show the pollution is moving northwest toward Valencia in both shallow and deep water aquifers, which Santa Clarita residents would rely on during a drought. Several companies filled orders from the U.S. military for everything from dynamite to missiles for several decades at the Bermite factory. Senate Bill 1004 would make clear that perchlorate dischargers are subject to current law, which requires the companies or individuals to provide clean water to municipalities or private well firms in exchange for supplies they have contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. . Last month, the current and former owners of the defunct Bermite explosives factory agreed to pay $8.87 million to the Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² Water Agency, the area's water wholesaler, to reimburse four local water agencies for the money that they have already spent studying the contamination and to fund the preparation of a cleanup plan. Perchlorate dischargers, often abandoned defense plants like Bermite, would be required to immediately report to state emergency and clean-water officials the discharges of 10 or more pounds of the toxin into a water supply. In addition, operators of facilities that have stored more than 500 pounds of the chemical since 1950 must report how much of it was stored, where it was kept and the method used to keep the chemical from leaking. Companies that fail to report discharges would be subject to administrative fines of $1,000 a day and court fines of $5,000 a day. Assembly Bill 826 establishes a framework for enforcement of perchlorate regulations, including rules for managing perchlorate materials. When the state budget crunch eases, the state is also to create a database that could be used to prevent uncontrolled perchlorate discharges. Heather MacDonald, (661) 257-5257 heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com |
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