[CPEO-MEF] Hundreds of Wells Possibly Contaminated in South Bay

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California
Hundreds of Wells Possibly Contaminated in South Bay
Tony Russomanno

A former flare and fuse manufacturing site in Morgan Hill is ground zero
for an underground plume of water contaminated with a chemical only
recently determined to be dangerous.

The chemical is perchlorate -- a component of solid rocket fuel, and a
legacy of the Cold War and the space race which also is used in flares
and matchsticks.

It was used at the Olin Corporation plant site in Morgan Hill for more
than 40 years, contaminating first the soil under the plant, and then
the underground aquifer in the soil. Wednesday, Olin told the Valley
Water District that the contaminated plume extends from the former plant
at Tennant and Railroad Avenues, southeast up to four miles along
Monterey Highway.

The region is dotted with hundreds of private wells serving homeowners
and ranchers.

"We think it's somewhere between 400 and 500 private wells that
potentially could be affected," said Mike DiMarco of the Valley Water
District.

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