[CPEO-MEF] "Lockheed Linked to Chromium 6 Pollution"

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010121/t000006173.html

Sunday, January 21, 2001 

Lockheed Linked to Chromium 6 Pollution 

Aquifer: Records and witnesses indicate an old plant used the rust inhibitor,
then discharged it into the ground, called common practice at the time. 

By ANDREW BLANKSTEIN, JEAN GUCCIONE, Times Staff Writers
LA Times

Searching for the source of contamination in local water supplies, officials
say they have found evidence suggesting that Lockheed Martin Corp. discharged
chromium 6-laced water directly into the San Fernando Valley aquifer. 

Reviewing old records and probing the memories of water quality workers now in
their 70s and 80s, officials have zeroed in on waste water discharges at
Lockheed's former Plant B-1. It was the heart of the firm's defense production
from the 1930s through the Cold War. 

The findings could make Lockheed liable for millions of dollars in costs to
clean up the aquifer, which supplies 15% of Los Angeles' drinking water. 

"It's our understanding that Lockheed used chromium 6 that was later injected
into ground water, using wells on their property," said Mel Blevins, the
court-appointed watermaster who oversees ground water pumping rights for the
upper Los Angeles River basin. 

continued...

http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20010121/t000006173.html

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