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rich.gold@hklaw.com [rich.gold@hklaw.com] 8/10/2017 2:44:56 PM Brown, Byron [/o=ExchangeLabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/cn=Recipients/cn=9242d85c7df343d287659f840d730e65-Brown, Byro]; Kelly, Albert [/o=ExchangeLabs/ou=Exchange Administrative Group (FYDIBOHF23SPDLT)/cn=Recipients/cn=08576e43795149e5a3f9669726dd044c-Kelly, Albe] esap@ensresources.com Orange County Water District North Basin NPL Listing
Hey g e n t s , wanted to make sure you got t h i s . Thanks f o r meeting w ith Mike w h i le he was o u t . We lo o k fo rward t o worki ng w ith you on approaches to get the res p o n s i bl e p a r t i e s t o the t a b i e i n e l udi ng the proposed NPL 1i s t i n g . . . .
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT : G in a A y a l a , (714) 378-3323 o r g a y a l a@ocwd. com<mai1to : gayal a@ocwd. com>
(https://www.oewd. com/media/5786/appel 1a t e - c o u r t - a f f i r m s - o e w d s - r i g h t s - t o - p r o t e c t - g w - b a s i n . pdf)
APPELLATE COURT AFFIRMS OCWD' S RIGHT TO PROTECT GROUNDWATER BASIN FROM CONTAMINATION
FOUNTAIN VALLEY, C a l i f . (August 9, 2017) - The C a l i f o r n i a Fourth Appel 1a te Di s t r i c t C o u rt o f Appeal (the C o u rt) r e c e n t l y r e a f f i rmed the a u t h o r i t y o f the Orange County Water Di s t r i c t (OCWD; the Di s t r i c t ) to v o i u n t a r i l y i n v e s t i gate and remedi a te contami n a t i on i n the so uthern p o r t i on (South Basi n) o f the Orange County Groundwater B a s i n and re c o v e r c o s t s f o r th e s e e f f o r t s . The r u l i ng in OCWD v . S a b ic I n n o v a t iv e Pi a s t i cs US, LLC e t a l . r e s t o r e d f o u r out o f f i ve OCWD causes o f a c t i on and r e v e rs e d al 1 t r i al c o u r t summary judgments t h a t had been gra nted to 22 d e f e n d a n t s , a l 1owing OCWD to now have i t s day in c o u r t .
In p a r t i c u i a r , the C o u rt h eld t h a t OCWD does have s t a n d i ng to pursue a c l a i m f o r i t s response c o s t s under the Hazardous Substance A ccoun t A c t and t h a t the Di s t r i c t ' s A c t a l 1ows OCWD t o re c o v e r both i n v e s t i g a t i on and c l ean-up c o s t s from re sp o n s i bl e p a r t i e s .
The C o u r t ' s 1a t e s t r u l i ng comes on the h e e ls o f a n o th e r appel 1a te c o u r t deci s i on r e c e n t i y i ssued
r e i a t i ng to OCWD' s e f f o r t s to remedi a te contami n a t i on i n the n o r th e r n p o r t i on (North Basi n) o f the
Orange Co unty Groundwater Basi n . In the North Basi n a p p e a l s , the C o u rt al so a f f i rmed OCWD' s r i ght to re c o v e r i t s remedi a t i on and response c o s t s and r e v e rs e d a j udgment t h a t p re v i o u s l y f a v o re d the p r i nei pal d e f e n d a n t , N orthrop Grumman Systems C o r p o r a t i o n .
T o g e t h e r , the South and North Basi n r u l i ngs not o n l y v a i i d a t e the Di s t r i e t ' s r i ght to r e i mbursement, but th e y a l so c l a r i f y the 1egal s t a n d a r d s t h a t t r i al c o u r t s w i l l use to determi ne whi ch p a r t i es are
responsi b le fo r groundwater contami nati o n .
"Thi s i s a 1andmark s t e p in p r e s e r v i ng and p r o t e c t i ng
p r e c i ous groundw ater r e s o u r c e s no t o n l y in Orange C ounty, but th ro u g h o u t C a l i f o r n i a , " s t a t e d OCWD P re s i dent Deni s B i 1o d e a u .
"Thi s i s j u s t a n o t h e r phase i n the 1ong and di f f i c u l t b a t t i e w ith res p o n s i b le p a r t i e s , " added Bi 1o d e a u .
"Despi te t h i s posi t i ve r u l i ng , t h e r e i s s t i 11 a 1o t o f work to be d o n e . OCWD i s commi t t e d to i mplementi ng a c o s t - e f f e c t i v e s o l u t i on to e l i mi nate groundw ater contami n a t i on and p r o t e c t the 1ong-term h e a lth and v i a b i 1i t y o f the Orange County Groundwater B a s i n . "
OCWD i s p ro ce e d i ng wi th the remedi a l i n v e s t i g a t i on and f e a s i b i 1i t y s t u d i e s o f both South and North Basi n on a t e c h n i c a l path i ndependent o f the 1egal e f f o r t . The Di s t r i c t has v o i u n t a r i l y taken e a r l y a c t i on to c a p t u re contami n a t i on t h a t has the p o t e n t i al to spread deeper i n t o the groundw ater basi n . An i ni t i al pumping w e ll i n North Basi n , r e f e r r e d t o as EW-1, w i l l be o p e r a t i onal in 1a te summer. In South B a s i n , the form al p ro c e s s o f s e i e c t i ng a groundwater remedy w i l l f o l 1ow the compe t i on o f the remedi al i n v e s t i g a t i on and f e a s i b i 1i t y s t u d y c u r r e n t l y bei ng p e r fo r m e d . T h a t s t u d y i s ex pected t o be compe ted i n la t e 2018.
"The c o s t o f i n v e s t i g a t i on and remedi a t i on o f both s i t e s a re s i gni f i c a n t . OCWD w i l l c o n t i nue to p a r t i c i pate i n a m u lt i p a r t cle a n u p s t r a t e g y , i n e l udi ng 1egal r e m e d ie s , i f n e c e s s a r y , to p r o t e c t r e s i dents and busi nesses from f u i 1 exposure t o t h a t f i nanci al 1i a b i 1i t y . However, i t i s our hope t h a t those re sp o n s i b le f o r the p r o b i em w i l l s t e p away from l i t i g a t i on and work toward i mplementi ng a groundwater cle a n u p i n co l 1a b o r a t i on wi th OCWD f o r the b e n e fi t o f the envi ronment and f o r the p r o t e c t i on o f our
r e g i o n ' s most p r e c i ous n a t u r a l r e s o u r c e , " s t a t e d Bi 1o d e a u .
The contami n a t i on co n si s t s o f i n d u s t r i al sol v e n t s , r e f e r r e d t o as v o i a t i 1e o rga ni c compounds (V O C s), whi eh sp i l i e d i n t o the ground from i n d u s t r i a l / m a n u fa ctu ri ng a c t i v i t i e s . S t r i ngent and ongoi ng t e s t i ng by OCWD from hundreds o f moni t o r i ng w e l l s and al 1 d r i nki ng water w e l l s a s s u r e s t h a t d r i nki ng water meets or
Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA
Tiers 8&9
ED 002061 00087202-00001
ex ceeds s t a t e and f e d e r a l d r i n k i n g water s t a n d a r d s . To d a t e , one South B a sin d r i n k i n g water w e ll and f o u r i n the North Basi n a re a have been removed from s e r v i c e . I f not remedi a t e d , the contami n a t i on co uld sp read and im pact o t h e r p a r t s o f the Orange Co unty Groundwater B a s i n , which 19 c i t i e s r e l y on f o r 75 percent o f thei r water demands.
For more i nfo rm a ti on about OCWD, v i s i t www.ocwd. com<http://www.ocwd. com>. For more i nfo rm a ti on about OCWD ' s cleanup e f f o r t s , v i s i t h t t p s : //www.ocwd. com/what-we-do/water-quali ty /g ro u n d w a te r-c le an u p /.
About Orange County Water Di s t r i et (OCWD) The Orange Co unty Water Di s t r i e t i s commi t t e d to enhanci ng Orange C o u n ty ' s groundw ater q u a i i t y and r e i i a b i 1i t y i n an envi ro n m e n t a lly f r i e n d l y and economi c a l manner. The f o l 1owi ng c i t i e s r e i y on the groundw ater basi n , managed by OCWD, to p ro v i de 75 p e r c e n t o f t h e i r water demands : Anahei m, Buena P a r k , C o sta Mesa, C y p r e s s , Fo untai n Val 1e y , Fui 1e r t n , Garden G r o v e , Hunti ngton B e a ch , I r v i n e , La Pal ma, Los Al ami t o s , Newport B ea ch, O ra n g e , P i a c e n t i a , Santa Ana, Seal B e a ch , S t a n t o n , T u s t i n , Vi 11 a Park, Westmi n s t e r and Yorba Li nda.
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Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA
Tiers 8&9
ED 002061 00087202-00002