SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

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,Vft,r -WW _ Mr. Nathan Esformes - 2 - 1 December 1998 2,300 feet northwest of Linne Road to the vicinity of Fairoaks Road. On 3 May 1996,the Board adopted Order No. 96-118 which allows contaminated groundwater to be extracted at approximately 25 gallons per minute and treated using spray aeration in a pond where the discharged water either evaporates or infiltrates back into the shallow aquifer. Order No. 96-118 also allows the use of an apricot orchard spray field as an alternative area of discharge provided that the contaminated groundwater is first treated by the produce facility water treatment system. Groundwater discharged from the produce facility water treatment system must meet a monthly median effluent limitation not exceeding 0.5 µg/l for chloroform and total trihalomethanes. The Discharger has stated that the apricot orchard spray field disposal alternative has not been used. Discharge of extracted groundwater to the aeration pond for treatment and infiltration may have caused chloroform polluted groundwater to spread upgradient of the aeration pond such that the beneficial uses of the groundwater have been impaired. The discharge may also have caused chloroform to be leached from contaminated soil beneath the pond to the groundwater. The concentration of chloroform measured in the upgradient monitoring well MW-1 has a median concentration of 110 µg/l since April 1996 when discharge to the aeration pond began. Prior to April 1996, the median concentration of chloroform in monitoring well MW-1 was 2.8 µg/1. The upgradient spread of chloroform contaminated groundwater in excess of water quality objectives has impaired the beneficial uses of underlying groundwater in violation of Standard Provision A.11 which states: • Neither the treatment nor the discharge shall create a condition of nuisance or pollution as defined by California Water Code, Section 13050. Contaminated groundwater is extracted using three wells, XW-1, MW-4A and MW-2, which are near the center of the plume. The placement and pumping rates of the extraction wells were approved in 1996 based on technical reports from the Discharger's consultant stating that capture of the downgradient plume in the area of well MW-7 would take approximately one year. However, a 5 November 1997 report submitted by Condor Earth Technologies for the Discharger on the efficiency of the extraction system states that reversal of the groundwater gradient and capture of downgradient contamination at monitoring well MW-7 will not occur before June 2000. The failure to capture downgradient groundwater contamination within the approximate time frame stated in the Report of Waste Discharge submitted for Order No. 96-118 is causing a continued impairment of the beneficial uses of the groundwater. Technical Reports Required Our records show that the last submitted monitoring report under MRP No. 90-142 is for November 1994, which means that the Discharger is almost four years delinquent on this reporting. Accordingly, Triple E Produce Corporation is hereby required, pursuant to Section 13267 of the California Water Code,to submit by 15 December 1998 the following: 1. Any monitoring data collected for the period of December 1994 through November 1998, in accordance with MRP No. 90-142; 2. All future complete and accurate monitoring reports beginning with the December 1998 reporting period, in accordance with MRP No. 90-142.