SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

Home Browse Search

CLEANUP AND ABATEMENT ORDER - 2 - THE 2 -THE PORT OF STOCKTON, PUREGRO FEED, AND PACIFIC MOLASSES AG PRODUCTS reduced nitrogen and 16 ppm NO3-N). In addition, molasses, whey, lignin, yellow grease, urea, phosphorus, and other feed products have been found several feet below ground surface. 6. Five monitoring wells were installed at the site, and have been sampled on a quarterly basis since December 1993. Groundwater depth ranges from 9 to 15 feet below ground surface. The upgradient well and a side gradient well contain elevated nitrate levels. Although the downgradient well does not currently contain nitrate, the wells must continue to be monitored as long as the extremely large mass of nitrogen remains in the soil at the facility. 7. The Port has recently removed the consultant's locks from the monitoring wells and installed their own locks, and has refused to allow Board staff access to the site. Although PureGro Feed has voluntarily characterized the Washington Street facility, an Order is required to both gain access and to obtain corrective actions to prevent future nitrogen pollution at the facility. 8. The site assessment completed to date shows that the livestock feed blending activities have adversely impacted the soils, and have the potential to adversely impact the groundwater beneath the facility. 9. The presence of elevated levels of nitrogen products in the soils at the facility has created a potential condition of pollution and nuisance. The beneficial uses of the San Joaquin ground water basin are municipal and domestic supply, irrigation supply, stock watering, process supply, and service supply. 10. Section 13304(a) of the California Water Code provides that "Any person who has discharged or discharges waste into waters of this state in violation of any waste discharge requirements or other order or prohibition issued by a regional board or the state board, or who has caused or permitted, causes or permits, or threatens to cause or permit any waste to be discharged or deposited where it is, or probably will be, discharged into the waters of the state and creates, or threatens to create, a condition of pollution or nuisance, shall upon order of the Regional Board clean up the waste or abate the effects of the waste, or, in the case of threatened pollution or nuisance, take other necessary remedial action, including but not limited to, overseeing cleanup and abatement efforts. Upon failure of any person to comply with the cleanup or abatement order, the Attorney General, at the request of the board, shall petition the superior court for that county for the issuance of an injunction requiring the person to comply with the order. In any such suit, the court shall have jurisdiction to grant a prohibitory or mandatory injunction, either preliminary or permanent, as the facts may warrant.