ONTARIO – (INT) – An agreement has been reached to clean-up a plume of toxic chemicals that has impacted drinking water wells in a section of extreme southeast Ontario.

A cleanup and abatement order was announced Tuesday by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board. It requires the cities of Ontario and Upland and the Inland Empire Utilities Agency to provide an alternative water supply to affected residents. The remedy includes a collaborative effort between the public parties and the Chino Basin Desalter Authority.

Also named in the cleanup order are Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc., The Boeing Company, General Electric Company, Lockheed Martin and the United States Department of Defense.

The area impacted by the plume of trichloroethylene (TCE) is located west of Interstate 15 and south of State Route 60 in Ontario.

Trichloroethylene is a volatile organic compound that was widely used as an industrial degreasing and cleaning solvent starting in the mid-1940s. The use of TCE declined in the 1970s after environmental and economic concerns curtailed its use.

Story Date: September 27, 2016