[CPEO-MEF] Plume focus of Rialto meeting

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[California]
Plume focus of Rialto meeting
State officials learn about consequences of perchlorate
By RICK McLAUGHLIN, Staff Writer

RIALTO - State legislators were introduced Monday to the looming bill
for perchlorate contamination in some Inland Valley drinking water
wells, which will need state financial aid for the cleanup.

The potentially staggering financial and social costs were highlighted
during a local meeting of the state Senate Select Committee on Urban
Economic Development.

Barry Groveman, chairman of the Inland Empire Perchlorate Task Force,
which was created by state Sen. Nell Soto, said the cost of cleanup
could eventually run into the hundreds of millions of dollars. He called
the situation "a water crisis that is enormous because of the enormity
of the task ahead.'

He said it could have been prevented because "there was plenty of time
to identify and correct the problem.'

Soto, D-Pomona, led the three-hour hearing that included expert
testimony about the medical, economic, business, legal and health
effects of perchlorate in some Inland Empire water wells.

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.sbsun.com/Stories/0,1413,208%257E12588%257E955658,00.html

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