CLEANUP PROCESS TAKES OFF TECHNIQUE TO REMOVE PERCHLORATE FROM WATER PROMISING IN TESTING.

Byline: Jim Skeen Staff Writer

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - A new technology aimed at removing a chemical that has polluted Santa Clarita's groundwater is showing promise one year into a field test at Edwards, removing 27 pounds of the contaminant from 7.8 million gallons of water.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory, in conjunction with Edwards, is testing the technique at the former Jet Propulsion Laboratory site, where high levels of the rocket-fuel ingredient, a chemical that can impair thyroid function, have been found.

``Everything seems to be promising so far,'' said Gary Hatch, spokesman for the base's Environmental Management unit.

Perchlorate has been detected in the two groundwater supplies Santa Clarita relies upon - the shallow alluvial that follows the Santa Clara River and the deep Saugus Aquifer. The contamination has forced the closures of four municipal water wells.

The chemical also has been found at several areas in shallow groundwater around Edwards in the Antelope Valley, but none of the contamination threatens the base's drinking-water wells, officials said.

At the former JPL site, perchlorate has been found at levels of 30,000 parts per billion.

Perchlorate has been found in wells throughout Southern California, as well as in Colorado River water. Water officials say contaminated wells are not used for drinking supplies, or their water is blended with untainted water to acceptable levels.

Perchlorate has been found at 1,600 ppb at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory rocket-testing facility at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley, and at 58,000 ppb at the former Bermite munitions plant in the center of Santa Clarita. A cleanup is planned so that land can be developed.

Federal and state regulators have not set maximum contaminant levels for perchlorate, but on Thursday the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment announced a public health goal of 6 ppb for perchlorate in drinking water.

Environmental groups call for a lower standard of 1 ppb, as recommended by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, while industrial users have sought a 200 ppb standard.

``While it is not a regulation, this goal provides scientific guidance to health authorities in setting a regulatory standard for perchlorate in drinking water,'' said OEHHA Director Joan Denton.

When state and federal regulators do establish perchlorate maximum contaminant levels, the base will abide by whichever one is stricter, said David Steckel, the base's restoration chief.

Edwards' perchlorate was discovered as part of the base's multimillion-dollar, years-long effort to clean up contamination that has occurred since military use started in the 1930s and which earned it designation in 1990 as an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site.

Perchlorate, in the form of ammonium perchlorate, was used in the manufacturing of solid rocket propellants.

At Edwards, officials believe the contamination came from an area where solid propellants were ground down. Water used in the grinding process was trapped in a catch basin, but apparently the basin was cracked, base officials said.

JPL began operating on a remote location in the northern part of the base in 1945 as an annex of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Over the years, the site evolved into a 570-acre research facility. As a cost-cutting measure, it was closed down in the mid-1990s.

The technology being tested at Edwards is called selective ion exchange resin. The resin has the ability to select only perchlorate for removal from the groundwater.

The system involves pumping groundwater through filters that remove large impurities. The water then travels through a series of three selective ion exchange resin vessels where the perchlorate is pulled from the water.

The water goes through a granulated active carbon filter for a final scrubbing before being recirculated into the ground.

``So far it has been going as we expected,'' said Paul Schiff, Edwards' project manager for the JPL site cleanup.

The field test, described as the first of its kind, will probably run into 2005, Schiff said.

The technology cost $800,000 to set up at Edwards. The testing will provide data to judge better what operational costs of future systems could be.

Jim Skeen, [phone]

james.skeen(at)dailynews.com