In response to this article below by Ryan Hagen I reached out to now former Councilman Ed Scott that has been the lead person for Rialto on the perchlorate cleanup settlements. Here is his email statement on this issue:
The settlement announced by the US EPA is important for several reasons not discussed in the Sun Newspaper. The 50 million announced is just part of the overall settlement. This settlement will bring 4.7 million directly to Rialto along with the $500,000 in the PSI settlement and end the appeals against the County. Rialto settlement bring another 4 million In total this brings 9.2 million dollars which will used by Rialto to refund perchlorate surcharges to Rialto’s water users who have been bay the surcharge for the last 10 years. For my household for example this would mean up to an $879.00 refund to my family. Additionally with this settlement in December the City Council will be able to end the perchlorate surcharge on your water bill.
More importantly this will bring a clean up of our water basin to be paid for by responsible parties. The combination of the County clean up system and the Emhart system will cost the parties over 110 million dollars.
This is a huge victory for Rialto and its residents as the council member who has dedicated a great deal of my time on these settlements I thank the Council for having the faith in me to accomplish these settlements. Their persistence and courage is something the residents should be proud of.
As I say good bye to the City Council and its residents I Am proud to be able to say we are done with the perchlorate litigation.
Ed Scott
Mayor Pro Tem
What came out in the Sun Newspaper today has the possibility to be troubling due to the current fears over revenues in a city struggling to remain afloat. Here are the apparent comments from city staff according to the SUN:
According to city documents, the elimination of the surcharge will reduce the scheduled Jan. 1 monthly water rate from $46.59 to $35.54, for the “typical single family residence.”
The surcharge elimination will cut revenues by roughly $892,000 for the remainder of fiscal 2012-13, according to city staff.
Whatever the case NOW is the time to get involved in the issues plaguing our city, the time of sitting idly by not getting involved are gone. If Rialto is REALLY your home and you want to see it succeed YOU must get involved. There are many ways to get involved if you don’t know how contact us here by emailing rialtonw@aol.com and we will help you plug in.
EPA, companies reach agreement over contaminated water at Rialto Superfund site
Ryan Hagen, Staff Writersbsun.com
Posted: 12/05/2012 12:23:18 PM PST
RIALTO – Nine companies and the Defense Department have agreed to pay about $50million to clean 160 acres of contaminated water, a milestone in a lawsuit with decades-long roots.The Environmental Protection Agency, one of the parties in the suit to clean the B.F. Goodrich Superfund Site, announced Wednesday that it had made an agreement with Emhart Industries, Pyro Spectaculars and others it considers responsible for perchlorate and trichloroethylene that caused the closure of drinking wells in Rialto and Colton.
“We now have a commitment from companies to fund the cleanup and the companies – the parties – rather than the residents of Rialto or Colton or the federal government are paying for cleanup work at the site,” said Wayne Praskins, the EPA’s project manager for the site. “It also helps ensure a safe, dependable supply of drinking water for residents in the area.”
The agreement, filed Tuesday, gives responsibility for the first portion of cleanup to Emhart Industries, which bought a company that reportedly released perchlorate – a chemical that may disrupt the thyroid’s ability to produce hormones needed for normal growth – as it manufactured flares and other pyrotechnics during the 1950s at the Rialto site.
Emhart and other settling parties – the Defense Department and more than six companies – will pay whatever that costs, estimated at $43million. Rialto and Colton will split $8million, with Rialto getting slightly more, according to attorney Danielle Sakai of Best Best & Krieger in Riverside, who represents Colton in the suit.
That will cover 30 years of designing, building and operating groundwater wells, treatment systems and other equipment that will first stop the spread of perchlorate and trichloroethylene – TCE, an industrial cleaning solvent that may damage the nervous system, liver and lungs if ingested or breathed, according to the agreement.
“The cleanup will probably continue for decades because the science of groundwater is once pollutants get into the groundwater, it takes a long time to get them out,” Praskins said. “Once the cleanup facilities are built and start operating, at that point we will have stopped any further spread.
“That’s our short-term goal. The goal is to clean it up to the point that water can be used at some point in the future without having to clean it further.”
Rialto and Colton, which had sued the companies in 2004, joined the agreement and called it a large victory that would lead to others.
“This is a long, hard fight that was all about getting clean drinking water for Colton residents,” said Sakai. “This is something that has been going on for a long time, and we’re pleased that we’re working our way toward a resolution.”
The agreement follows another in March that requires payment of a combined $4.3million to the EPA by Pyro Spectaculars Inc. and other companies.
The EPA initially listed five parties – Emhart, PSI, Ken Thompson Inc., Chung Ming Wong and B.F. Goodrich – as responsible for decades of potentially hazardous waste dumped at the site when it made it eligible for federal funding by adding it to the EPA National Priorities List in 2009.
B.F. Goodrich is the largest company that still has not made an agreement, but negotiations are in the “details” phase and should be finalized within months, Praskins said.
ryan.hagen@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3916, @sbcitynow
rialtonow 