Clean Water Program Reports

Search • RSS Feed

Executive Summary

New pollution tests reveal a new perchlorate ‘pulse’ that threatens to spread to Rialto drinking water wells. Perchlorate is the major ingredient in solid rocket fuel. According to scientific reviews conducted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several state agencies, at low concentrations in drinking water the toxin can lead to Attention Deficit Disorder, learning disabilities and decreased IQ in children. As a result of inadequate industrial storage and disposal practices, perchlorate pollutes the drinking water supplies of millions across the country. The City of Rialto is at the epicenter of this contamination crisis. Perchlorate pollution in local water wells was first detected in 1997 and has to date resulted in the closure of numerous local drinking water wells and incurred the city residents millions to cover the cost of stop-gap cleanup measures.

Between 1957 and 1963, Goodrich Corporation (then known as B.F. Goodrich) owned and operated a rocket fuel manufacturing and processing facility in Rialto, a small working-class city located an hour east of Los Angeles. During its tenure, the company produced rocket fuel for the Loki, Sidewinder, ASP I and ASP II missiles. According to depositions given by former employees, thousands of pounds of waste rocket fuel from the manufacturing process were disposed of in a large unlined pit behind the Goodrich facility.1 Federal and state officials believe that the Goodrich facility and disposal pit into which thousands of pounds of the chemical were dumped are a source of the perchlorate pollution that has decimated the Rialto’s water supply. Rialto’s perchlorate pollution problem may soon worsen.

New mandated pollution tests conducted by Goodrich Corporation and submitted to state water officials in July 2006 reveal an alarming spike in contamination that threatens to send a new pulse of toxic perchlorate pollution into Rialto drinking water wells. Levels of perchlorate pollution in well PW-2, located close to the historic Goodrich perchlorate disposal pit spiked sharply in 2006 – from an April 2005 concentration of 53 µg/L to an April 2006 concentration of 10,000 µg/L. The increased threat highlights the urgent need for Goodrich Corporation and other parties responsible for perchlorate pollution in the Rialto area to immediately halt the spread of contamination throughout the region, provide replacement water for wells they have polluted and institute a long term cleanup plan for the community.