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CALIFORNIA REGIONAL WATER QUALITY CONTROL BOARD <br /> CENTRAL VALLEY REGION <br /> ORDER NO. R5-2008-0149 <br /> WASTE DISCHARGE REQUIREMENTS <br /> GENERAL ORDER FOR <br /> IN-SITU GROUNDWATER REMEDIATION AT SITES WITH VOLATILE ORGANIC <br /> COMPOUNDS, NITROGEN COMPOUNDS, PERCHLORATE, PESTICIDES, <br /> SEMI-VOLATILE COMPOUNDS, HEXAVALENT CHROMIUM <br /> AND/OR PETROLEUM HYDROCARBONS <br /> The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Valley Region, (hereafter <br /> Regional Water Board) finds that: <br /> I. Pursuant to Section 13263, subdivision (i) of the California Water Code (CWC), the <br /> Regional Water Board may prescribe general waste discharge requirements (WDRs) for <br /> discharges produced by similar operations, involving similar types of wastes, and requiring <br /> similar treatment standards. <br /> 2. Discharges of volatile organic compunds (VOCs), perchlorate, pesticides, semi-volatile <br /> compounds, hexavalent chormium and petroleum hydrocarbons have degraded <br /> groundwater at numerous sites within the Central Valley Region and cause or threaten to <br /> cause pollution or nuisance and adversely affect existing and potential beneficial uses of <br /> groundwater resources. Remediation of groundwater at these sites includes the use and <br /> application of in-situ biological, chemical, and physical treatments. These processes <br /> include oxygen enhancement, chemical oxidation, biostimulation (addition of nutrients and <br /> bacteria to enhance biodegrdation), bioaugmentation (introducing appropriate bacteria) <br /> and groundwater extraction and sometimes treatment, with return of treated groundwater <br /> to the area in the aquifer undergoing treatment. The application of the amendments can <br /> be done actively with hydraulic control of the treatment zone as the amendments are <br /> added to the extracted groundwater and injected upgradient into the treatment area. The <br /> application is also done at times in a passive mode where the amendments are injected <br /> into the treatment zone and there is no nearby hydraulic control of the treatment zone. <br /> Additional details are supplied in the Information Sheet, attached to this Order. <br /> 3. Adoption of general WDRs for the these processes would: a) simplify the application <br /> process for dischargers, b) prevent regulatory delays to groundwater remediation <br /> activities, c) reduce time needed for Regional Water Board staff to prepare and the <br /> Regional Water Board to adopt WDRs for common remedial activities in the Central <br /> Valley Region, d) enhance protection of surface water quality by eliminating some <br /> discharges of treated groundwater to surface water, and e) provide a comparable level of <br /> water quality protection to individual, site-specific WDRs. <br /> 4. This Order regulates the use and application of in-situ biological, chemical, and physical <br /> treatments to clean up waste constituents in groundwater. The dischargers regulated by <br /> this Order are more appropriately regulated by general WDRs than individual WDRs <br /> because the Regional Water Board regulates many sites using this type of process, the <br /> cleanup of these type of sites is of high priority and the issuance of individual WDRs is <br />