WELLS MAY BE CONTAMINATED ROCKET-FUEL INGREDIENT FOUND IN DRINKING-WATER SOURCE.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer SIMI VALLEY Simi Valley (sē`mē, sĭm`ē), city (1990 pop. 100,217), Ventura co., SW Calif. in an oil, fruit, and farm region; laid out 1887, inc. 1969. - Traces of perchlorate perchlorate: see chlorate. have been detected for the first time in the city's two drinking-water wells, near previous hits of the rocket fuel ingredient, officials said Thursday. Information about the test results was reported Wednesday night at a meeting of the Santa Susana Santa Susana can refer to several places:
Community activists expressed frustration that they hadn't been told earlier. ``We've been told for years that there is no perchlorate showing up in drinking-water wells,'' said Dan Hirsch of the Committee to Bridge the Gap. ``Before, the results created a possibility that the perchlorate contamination was spotty. ``Now that it's been found in the drinking-water wells, it confirms that the contamination is widespread.'' The perchlorate levels were below the allowed limit of 6 parts per billion. The groundwater is diluted with imported water to ensure that it is safe to drink. The Boeing Co., which owns the Rocketdyne field lab, has said there is little evidence showing that perchlorate contamination has spread from the rocket manufacturing and testing site. Company officials maintain that the bedrock beneath the site acts like a sponge and holds pollutants pollutants see environmental pollution. on the hill. But water-quality officials said they will not draw any conclusions about where the perchlorate may have come from and whether the field lab could be a potential source. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Regional Water Quality Control Board Assistant Executive Officer David Bacharowski said his agency is keeping an eye on incoming perchlorate results, but he doesn't anticipate further action as long as the levels stay low. ``We don't have the money to go out and do an investigation of the Valley, and these low levels don't warrant an investigation at this time.'' Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Water Co. officials first discovered the perchlorate last August when they switched to a new water-quality laboratory that was able to detect perchlorate at extremely low levels. The chemical has been found every quarter since then at levels ranging from 1 ppb ppb abbr. parts per billion to 3.3 ppb - below the official California detection limit. ``We don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. exactly what it means or where it's coming from,'' said Dawn White, water-quality manager with the SoCal Water Co. ``We're not making any claims as to what it means at this point. ``We will continue to do this monitoring and share this information with regulators.'' Kerry Cavanaugh, (818) 713-3746 kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com |
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