Former Goodrich site in San Bernardino could be added to Superfund

 

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has said it may take over cleanup of the former Goodrich Corp. toxic waste site in San Bernardino County, adding it to the national priorities or Superfund list.

Contamination from perchlorate led the Rialto City Council to declare a water emergency last year. From the EPA's announcement:

Since the 1940s, the B.F. Goodrich site has been used by businesses to store, test and manufacture munitions, rocket motors, and pyrotechnics. The area’s soil and groundwater are contaminated with perchlorate and trichloroethylene (TCE), forcing the closure of area public drinking water supply wells in the nearby communities of Rialto and Colton.

"It’s time for the EPA to mobilize its technical, financial, and enforcement resources to put the cleanup back on track," said Keith Takata, Superfund director of the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. "Rialto and Colton are counting on us to move ahead as quickly as possible, and proposing this site for the Superfund list makes it clear that this cleanup is a top priority for the EPA."

-- Geoffrey Mohan

Photo credit: City of Rialto

Comments

[Joan Davidson]

The Palos Verdes Landfill , Rolling Hills Estates, CA is a similar situation but was put on the state priority list in the late 1980's. Didn't help.
We are still fighting the battle. There is a Public Meeting on May 18th, Pacific Unitarian Church, 5621 Montemalaga Dr, Rancho Palos Verdes,7pm, to get the word out about the health risks involved and possible exposure to migration of the toxins from the landfill that are happening still today.
State control was supposed to be a better way to clean up and remediate the site. With homes as close as two feet away, the potential for exposure is high. Unless the Federal Government starts taking a real active role in clean ups of toxic sites, the communities next to these sites are in harms way. There needs to be more accountability and funding to provide assistance in the clean up of toxic sites.