About 50 residents attended the January 22 US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) meeting at the Fullerton Community Center. The presentation by EPA Remedial Project Manager Amanda Cruz updated the 6.4-mile North Orange County Plume and the action being taken to clean up the polluted shallow aquifer underlying Orange County to protect our drinking water.
Fullerton’s Water Division, along with the OCWD, keeps a close eye on our water and the cleanup developments. Fullerton’s Director of Public Works, Stephen Bise, Assistant Director Richard Armendariz, Andrew Grajeda, Water Systems Manager, and Delaney Felix, Water Quality Supervisor, were all in attendance.
Most of Fullerton’s water is pumped from the deep aquifer and is regularly monitored to make sure it meets all health requirements. Any wells that are found to be affected are immediately shut down. Six wells have been shut down in the past five years.
The actions the USEPA will take over the next several years will begin a 30-year or longer process to remove contamination from the shallow aquifer, ensuring it doesn’t spread to our drinking water. The cleanup will require about 17 extraction wells, a piping system, a treatment plant, injection wells, and about 20 monitoring wells…