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Groundwater Management Unit Solvents and Toxics
Liaison Program - More Solvent Information
Solvents released to groundwater comprise a particularly
difficult challenge. Released in pure form, solvents move through water
as a separate phase that is denser than water and sinks. Released to soil,
solvents will migrate downward in liquid and vapor form, and dissolve
into groundwater at the water table. Many chlorinated solvents are recalcitrant,
due to their high affinity for soil organic matter and the slow rate at
which they biodegrade. Consequently, solvent contamination tends to persist
for decades, often forming large plumes of contaminated groundwater.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District has established
the Solvents and Toxics Cleanup Liaison Program, within the Grounwater
Management Unit to provide peer review and track the progress of the
many cleanups now underway in our basin. Activities in this program
include maintaining current files on active cases, attending public
meetings, issuing comments to regulatory agencies at strategic stages
in the evolution of a cleanup case, providing information on request
to regulatory agencies, local governments, and businesses, and analyzing
the cumulative impact of these releases to the health of the groundwater
basin.
Unlike fuel leak sites, these sites are regulated by the following
Agencies:
The
San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board
The California
Department of Toxic Substances Control
The United States Environmental
Protection Agency
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