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STATE OF CALIFORNIAa- HEALTH ANU WEL E ACE NCY EDMUND G. BROWN JR., Governor' DEPAR"iWENT OF HEALTH SERVICES 714044 P STREET SACRAMENTO, CA 95814 41�j, (916) 322-2337 January 29, 1979 Mr,. David Giannotti Counsel for Environmental Affairs Hooker Chemical 1980.South Post Oak Road Houston, TX 77056 Dear Mr. Giannotti: t? AN31 1979 SAN ,Imp UIN HEALTH D!,,LnrCT L RI We appreciate the call you ;jade to this office on January 26, 1979 offering to provide us information on operations at the Oxychem Lathrop plant and on actions that are planned. As I told you, Mr. Robert McCormick of our office met with Mr. Edson on January 4 /and with Mr. Edson and Mr. Varvais on January 16. We understand that Oxychem considers thehardness and concentra- tions of sulfate in groundwater in the vicinity of the Oxychem property to be significantly high and that Oxychem has retained a consulting hydrologist to make an assessment and provide recommendations. As I mentioned on January 26, the Department of Health Services will collab- orate with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board on an assessment; of conditions. I presume that the Department will be aided in its determination of the presence or absence of a hazard to health, domestic livestock, or the environment by the opportunity to review Katona Doc. 075175 and all documents released to 'Mead Corporation by your firm and affiliates which discuss the past management of wastes at Lathrop or observed or suspected effects and hazards associated with the management of those wastes. We will appreciate your providing that material to us, and would welcome also any other material or comments you consider useful in our detenvination of the adequacy of past monitoring of environmental quality and the need for addi- tional special monitoring. We also request that you or staff at Oxychem tell us the chemical names of constituents of all wastes from the Oxychem plant present above and below the surface of land at Lathrop managed by Oxychem. Our assessment will also be aided when you or staff at Oxychem proide Mr. Rose of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board information Mr. Rose requested in his letter of January 17 to Mr. Vervais., a copy of that letter is attached. Mr. Rose requested in his letter all data obtained by Oxychem in its monitoring of quality of well water. We appreciate your gracious offer to work with us on this matter. We will keep you informed of our findings. The brief discussion presented below regarding the responsibilities of they Department of Health Services in matters involving hazardous wastes may be of benefit to you in the future.