Press Release: Mobil Agrees to Cleanup Contamination and Provide Water to Santa Monica

For Immediate Release (C-04-97)
Contact: Communications Office (916) 324-9670
February 19, 1997

555 Capitol Mall, Suite 525
Sacramento, CA 95814
(916) 324-9670
FAX (916) 445-5563

SACRAMENTO--The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) today announced the signing of a settlement agreement between its Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and Mobil Corporation to clean up gasoline-contaminated groundwater previously used by the City of Santa Monica and to secure a replacement supply of clean drinking water for years to come.

"Cal/EPA worked closely with state and regional water quality officials to ensure that the public health is protected and the environment is improved. This settlement is the quickest, least costly way to cleanup the contamination and provide clean water to the people of Santa Monica," California Environmental Protection Agency Undersecretary Peter Rooney said.

The agreement between the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board and Mobil outlines an aggressive plan to clean up groundwater contamination caused by a leaking underground storage tank near a West Los Angeles parcel used by the City of Santa Monica to pump drinking water for its municipal utility. Since those wells have been closed after significant contamination was discovered last year, the City of Santa Monica has been buying alternative water supplies. The settlement requires Mobil to negotiate a separate agreement with the City of Santa Monica. 

"Cal/EPA provided the City of Santa Monica with an opportunity to review the settlement agreement and suggest several changes before it was signed. Through a number of discussions with the mayor, the city staff and their representatives, we are confident that the significant interests of the City are protected by the cleanup and replacement water agreement," Rooney said.

Part of the contamination found in the Santa Monica wells was MTBE, a component of gasoline used to improve air quality.  While concerns have been raised about its potential health impacts, MTBE is substantially less hazardous than the benzene it replaces in California's new Cleaner Burning Gasoline formulations. As leaking underground tanks are replaced as required by federal law at the end of 1998, incidents of groundwater contamination should greatly diminish.

For a copy of the five page agreement, call (916) 324-9670.

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