CORRESPONDENCE_1982-1983 - Laserfiche WebLink

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the perched water is salty. 6. The choice of the present site for a dump was unfortunate. It will be difficult, if not Impossible, to assure that the pollutants being deposited at the site will not someday seep into the groundwater system. Most, if not all of the constituents that are going into the dump at Forward, Inc. are non-degradable. Such constituents as cadmium, barium, sodium, etc. will still be available for leaching into the groundwater system decades from now. The entire premise upon which the safety seems to be based is that an impervious lining can be installed which will last forever. That premise seems, to BAX to be very shaky, indeed. To what avail is a clay lining if the lining fails in ten or twenty years and the pollutants then ruin the water supply of San Joaquin residents? The good dump sites in California are geologically isolated, so that reliance need not be placed on a fragile membrane of clay. Forward, Inc. does not appear to have that kind of geologic isolation. RECOMMENDATIONS BAX respectfully suggests to the San Joaquin Board of Supervisors thdt firm measures should now be taken to stop what appears to be substantial pollution of the groundwater system in San Joaquin County. BAT further suggests that while many of the violations and incidents of pollution that it has uncovered can be corrected, the real solution to the problem may lie in relocation of the facility. The fundamental problem that cannot be overcome in the present location is that the dump overlies a water supply that is necessary to the residents of the area as well as farmers. Mature has covered the groundwater basin with agricultural soils. By definition, that means they are permeable and any pollutants that are disposed of at the site will be a threat to San Joaquin's water supply long after the dump has been closed and Forward, Inc. has gone out of business. 14