[CPEO-MEF] My visit to Aerojet

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

On March 8, 2005, I toured the perchlorate treatment facilities at the 
Aerojet property in Rancho Cordova, California, as part of the ITRC 
(Interstate Technology Regulatory Council) perchlorate workteam meeting. 
Aerojet is one of the largest perchlorate contamination sites in the 
country, with groundwater plumes moving in several directions, but the 
concentrations are not so great as at the Kerr-McGee site in Henderson, 
Nevada.

We first visited an old treatment facility, one intended for 
replacement, consisting of air strippers (with no off-gas treatment) for 
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and "downstream" portable ion exchange 
units for perchlorate. Were it not already slated for shutdown, I would 
find the VOC vapor releases cause for potential concern, because the 
treatment systems is near the property boundary,.

Then we visited the state-of-the-art fluidized bed (biological) reactor, 
which treats perchlorate as well as other salts, such as nitrates, 
before the water receives ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide treatment. The 
latter is designed to eliminate NDMA (nitrosodimethylamine), a highly 
toxic byproduct of liquid rocket fuel. (The health standard is in parts 
per trillion). It also removes most of the volatile organic compounds, 
including 1,4 dioxane (which carbon doesn't trap). The ultraviolet lamp 
units consume a great deal of electrical power. Then the water goes 
through air strippers before release to (dirtier) surface water.

This visit confirmed that a great deal of progress has been made in 
perchlorate treatment technology over the past couple of years, and it 
also illustrated that in industrial settings perchlorate is likely to be 
found in groundwater along with other seriously toxic substances.

And this, perhaps, is the most important lesson of my Aerojet visit. 
Most discussions of perchlorate address it as if it existed in 
laboratory conditions. In the real world, it frequently appears in water 
with other contaminants. Other substances interfere with measurements of 
perchlorate concentrations. The risk of perchlorate ingestion may be 
affected positively or negatively by the presence of other substances. 
Finally, as Aerojet's remediation challenge underscores, water treatment 
must simultaneously address the full suite of toxic substances within 
the water.

Thus, any funding to promote the investigation, assessment, and response 
to perchlorate contamination should be structured to protect the public 
from all toxic substances in its water, not just the "toxic flavor of 
the month," perchlorate.

Lenny
--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org


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