Clean Water News

Coalition Calls Upon Polluters To Immediately Cleanup Rocket Fuel Contamination In Local Drinking Water Supply 

RIALTO—City residents, local community groups and state environmental organizations united today in submitting an official petition, supported by one thousand local residents, to the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. The petition calls upon Goodrich Corp. and Black & Decker to immediately clean up the rocket fuel pollution they leaked into the city’s drinking water supply. Perchlorate, the major ingredient in rocket fuel, pollutes fourteen drinking water well in the city.

“With the heavy economic burden already placed on the families of the Inland Valley, it is a true travesty that they get the added expense on their water bills for paying for the perchlorate contamination caused by these corporations,” exclaimed Penny Newman, Executive Director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, which delivered the petition to the Regional Water Board in support of strong action against the two polluters. "It is time for the Regional Water Board to step forward and make the polluters pay for the mess they've created. The Rialto community deserves clean water now!”

At very low concentrations perchlorate can disrupt the thyroid gland, which can lead to attention deficit disorder, learning disabilities and decreased IQ in children. The chemical leaked into the city’s water supplies through decades of inadequate storage and disposal practices.

According to local water officials, both Goodrich Corp. and Black & Decker are two major sources of perchlorate contamination in the city. Despite this responsibility, both companies have to date failed to take meaningful action toward cleanup. In 2003, Goodrich Corp. donated a small sum of $2 million toward cleanup in the city, which amounted to only 1.3% of the total $150 million that city officials estimate will be needed to clean up the contamination. Negotiations between local water officials and the two companies over the past several years have yielded no further progress. As a result some water from local wells polluted by rocket fuel is currently served to the public and local water rates have been raised to pay to pursue polluters for cleanup.

In order to end the polluter delay, residents urged the Regional Water Board to immediately issue a cleanup order against both companies that will require them to 1) Clean up their contamination to the maximum extent that is technologically feasible; and 2) Provide community members with a safe, rocket fuel-free water supply until cleanup is completed.

“Black and Decker and Goodrich should be ashamed of themselves. With a combined net worth in the billions, these companies can afford to clean up the mess they have made,” concluded Sujatha Jahagirdar, Clean Water Advocate with Environment California Research & Policy Center. “The delay must end now. The community of Rialto deserves rocket fuel out of its water today.”

CCAEJ is a 25 year old environmental justice organization that brings people together to improve our social and natural environment by empowering diverse communities to create safer, healthier, toxic free places to live, work, learn and play.

Environment California Research & Policy Center, offers an independent, articulate voice on behalf of the environment in California. Drawing upon 30 years of experience, our professional staff combines independent research and practical ideas to uncover environmental problems, develop pragmatic policy solutions, and engage citizens in our work for meaningful results.