OC Groundwater Basin Added To Superfund Sites For Future Cleanup

FULLERTON, CA — The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a Superfund site project to clean up groundwater in part of a basin in Fullerton, Anaheim, and Placentia, they announced Tuesday.

EPA's Superfund program is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation's most contaminated land and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills, and natural disasters. According to its website, the program focuses on making a visible and lasting difference in communities, ensuring that people can live and work in healthy, vibrant places.

Since 2017, the Orange County Water District has sought to clean up groundwater in the Orange County North Basi. According to the Orange County Water District, groundwater was contaminated with industrial degreasing chemicals in the early 1960s through the mid-1980s. The long-lasting effects contaminated an area about five miles long and two miles wide, the district says.

Now, 40 years later, the Orange County North Basin site contamination still is a threat to drinking water supply wells in wells that serve Orange County, according to the EPA.

Officials have taken five drinking water wells in Fullerton and Anaheim out of service due to the contamination. This action ensures the continued protection of drinking water, they say. There is "insufficient data" to determine whether human exposure is under control as of this report.

The Superfund designation for the North Basin Groundwater Cleanup Project is a "big step forward," said EPA Regional Administrator John Busterud. The project will protect "an essential drinking water source for generations to come."

To stay updated and get involved, visit: cumulis.epa.gov or contact: Carlin Hafiz, the Community Involvement Coordinator, at hafiz.carlin@epa.gov.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.