The "toxic plume"

"The long-term effects of trichloroethylene [TCE, a solvent] on human beings is unknown. In animal studies, chronic trichloroethylene exposure has produced liver cancer in mice, but not in rats. Studies on its effects on reproduction in animals have been similarly inconsistent, and so no conclusive statements about its ability to cause birth defects in humans can be made."

--Wikipedia on "TCE"

or some reason, we never seem to hear much about the toxic plume beneath us here in Irvine, caused by 40 years of solvent dumping at the former El Toro Marine Base.

When I say "we," I mean denizens of Irvine Valley College in particular. (See plume map below.)

If you visit the Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD) website (IRWD contamination history), you'll find this helpful "History of El Toro Contamination":

* 1985: [TCE] Contamination discovered
* 1989: Installed Well ET-1 [across the street from IVC] to slow plume movement. However, one well is not enough to remove the plume completely
* 1990: Dept. of Navy accepted its responsibility and Superfund site created
* 1994-2001: Negotiations with the Navy and the Dept. of Justice
* 2001: Settlement agreement reached: Navy agreed to pay for removal of the volatile organic compound contamination
* In October 2003, proposed project modifications were made, including changing well locations, and adding a shallow groundwater unit (SGU) volatile organic treatment facility near the former MCAS El Toro
* In February 2004, well site acquisition in Woodbridge was unsuccessful
* IRWD reached agreement with The Irvine Company (TIC) to take over existing TIC agricultural wells and pipelines, some of which can be incorporated into the Irvine Desalter Project. Therefore, construction costs were lowered, resulting in a more cost effective project



ecently, the IRWD has attempted to build a much-needed second toxic cleanup pump, but that got NIMBYd into oblivion. For the story, go to "Woodbidge nix sends well back to drawing board"

Some excerpts from that Irvine World News article:

The Irvine Ranch Water District is back to re-evaluating options in the project to clean up the plume of toxins in the groundwater under Irvine.

The Woodbridge Village Association board voted Feb. 4 to not allow the water district to drill a cleanup well near the community's North Lake Lagoon and to work with IRWD to find another solution in dealing with the "toxic plume."

The board had initially agreed to allow the water district to use the Woodbridge Lake well to pump trichloroethylene (TCE)-contaminated water from the plume in groundwater that extends from the old El Toro air base. The well would have been part of the larger project, dubbed the Irvine Desalter Project, which would clean up toxins from the air base that seeped into the groundwater over a period of about 40 years. One such cleanup well has been in operation at Irvine Center Drive and Jeffrey Road since 1989, but the water district says that one well is not enough.

Other wells will pump uncontaminated water upstream from the plume to help slow the progress of the plume's expansion and slow movement toward areas in the underground water that provide drinking water.

The plume also is headed toward areas in the aquifer that might be used in the future to supply Irvine with drinking water. And, the contaminated part of the water basin is a potential source of drinking water for the future.

...Some residents questioned why the project was named "Irvine Desalter Project," when it's a toxic plume clean-up.

...Without the cleanup well, the lake will continue to be filled with water pumped from the toxic plume by an existing well owned by the Woodbridge Village Association, as it has been since the lake was created. About two years ago, the association stopped using the well water to fill the swimming lagoon beside the lake, which is now filled with drinking-quality water. No TCE has been detected in the lake, according to association official Bob Figeira, though it has been detected in the existing well.

...At [a] meeting, environmental medicine specialist Mary McDaniel said that measures would be taken to ensure the safety for the community during the drilling of the proposed toxic plume well.

She said a study indicated that the project did not present a health risk during the drilling of the well or during the clean-up operation, which is estimated to last about 40 years.... (Feb. 12, 2004)


P.S.:

I ran across an interview of Ray Watson, former President of the Irvine Company (Watson). He designed the Woodbridge Village Association, which opened in 1976. In the interview (evidently in 2001), he explains why North Lake is warmer than South Lake:

The main idea was to have a recreational community connected by paths. We also came up with the idea of lakes. I don’t know if you ever heard the story, but the water that goes into the North Lake Lagoon is warmer than the water that goes into the South Lake Lagoon. This happened by accident in the sense that when we were drilling for water for the North Lake, we hit a natural hot water spring.

Yeah, but that's not all they hit.


Note: NIMBY = "not in my back yard"
It would seem that opposition to the El Toro Airport was largely fueled by NIMBYism, although other motives existed.
Trustee Fuentes was among the leaders of the opposition movement. Oddly, given their differing politics, so was Irvine's Larry Agran.