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By Jonathan Friedman
Lookout Staff
November
13, 2009 --Procter & Gamble Co. has
agreed to pay the City of Santa Monica $68 million to clean
contaminated groundwater near the former Paper Mate plant.
The company will also clean contaminated soil at the plant
site by 2012.
The City Council approved the agreement at its meeting on
Tuesday. The deal must also receive the blessing of the Regional
Water Quality Control Board.
From 1957 to 2006, pens were manufactured at the Paper Mate
plant, located on 26th Street and Olympic Boulevard. Chemicals
from the operation are blamed for polluting the nearby groundwater.
There are three City wells in the area.
The Gillette Co. owned Paper Mate until 2000. P&G purchased
Gillette in 2005.
City Council member Kevin McKeown applauded the deal in an
e-mail to the Lookout News.
“Our settlement guarantees Santa Monicans that ground
pollution will be cleaned up and our underground water supplies
made whole,” McKeown wrote
.
He continued, “Santa Monica will regain even more of
our water independence, reducing the need to purchase water
from regional sources, and the general environmental health
of formerly industrial sites near the Mid-City and Pico neighborhoods
will be improved.”
Regional Water issued P&G a Cleanup and Abatement Order
for the site last year. The company attempted to fight the
order, arguing that it was not the only polluter of the groundwater
and that the Order did not give P&G adequate time to comply
with the Orders’ demands.
Regional Water’s vote on the agreement will be based
on how it fits with the Order. Regional Water officials could
not be reached for comment for this article.
P&G spokesperson Paul Fox said the company was pleased
to reach an agreement with the City.
“Clearly, we have been committed to working with local
authorities over many years concerning the remediation of
the Santa Monica site,” Fox said. “And we’re
clearly delighted that this matter has now reached a successful
conclusion.”
The $68 will be paid out over a period of more than 10 years.
The City will receive about half the money in the first three
years. P&G will continue with spread out the remaining
payments during the nine years that follow.
Meanwhile, McKeown says City officials are not done with their
efforts to ensure a clean water supply in Santa Monica.
“Although this settlement addresses the major problems
with our water wells along Olympic, the City will continue
a good faith effort to make other contributing polluters pay
their fair share,” McKeown wrote. |
