By Sylvie Dale, Online Editor
March 12, 2002 -- Residents of Cambria gathered Monday night to discuss cleanup options for the MTBE contamination of the groundwater near Cambria Chevron.
Cambria is a small coastal community about 35 miles north of San Luis Obispo.
More than 100 people came from Cambria and surrounding communities to listen, ask questions, and sign petitions regarding a state-approved plan to dump treated water into the Santa Rosa Creek, SanLuisObispo Tribune newspaper reported.
California's Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board on Feb. 1 approved Chevron's cleanup plan in which the company said it would highly treat the water to remove the MTBE, leaving a discharge water that will meet state drinking water standards.
Community members are fighting the plan because it would allow discharged water to flow past homes and businesses, schools and parks, then into protected waters. Last week, the Cambria Community Services District filed suit against Chevron and the regional water board, and appealed the decision with the state Water Quality Control Board.
The regional water board said before it can begin releasing the effluent, Chevron must prove that its filtering system is working as expected. In addition, the company will have to get approval in various ways from the state Coastal Commission, Fish and Game, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other regulators.
Participants in the discussions Monday said they wanted MTBE to be kept out of the creek, and even out of the town and the state, the Tribune reported.
Residents circulated ideas for stopping Chevron, including letter-writing campaigns, petitions and even persuading others to cut up Chevron gas credit cards.
California allows 5 parts per billion of MTBE in drinking water. Gov. Gray Davis in 1999 signed an executive order banning MTBE in the state after the end of 2002.
For more information, visit the SanLuisObispo Tribune at http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispotribune/.
