PG&E Hinkley Chromium Cleanup

Hinkley Compressor Station Chromium Contamination Cleanup

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Overview

PG&E’s Compressor Station is located approximately two miles southeast of the town of Hinkley and a dozen miles west of Barstow in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County. Between 1952 and 1966, PG&E used hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, to fight corrosion in cooling tower water. The wastewater from the cooling towers was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater percolated to the groundwater, resulting in hexavalent chromium pollution. The chromium affects an area of groundwater at least six miles long and two miles wide.

The Third Quarter 2012 Monitoring Report shows that chromium has been detected in groundwater in the north, past Fossil Bed Road at the Hinkley Gap leading to the Harper Dry Lake Valley. The chromium plume is undefined to the north and east to the maximum background levels of 3.1 ppb hexavalent chromium and 3.2 ppb total chromium. The Water Board will soon be issuing an order requiring PG&E to further delineate the plume in groundwater. The next monitoring report and chromium plume map is due at the end of January 2013.

PG&E is under orders from the Lahontan Water Board to stop plume expansion and clean up the chromium plume. Monthly monitoring reports by PG&E demonstrate that the chromium plume is currently being contained south of Thompson Road. Plume containment north of Thompson Road will be required once the Water Board adopts the final EIR, expected to be in May 2013, and waste discharge requirements and a cleanup and abatement order, probably in fall 2013.

Below are certain documents related to some of these corrective actions. All documents associated with the project are available at the Barstow Public Library and at the Lahontan Water Board office in Victorville. Documents may be reviewed during regular business hours.

Announcements

• New! Final EIR for groundwater cleanup available
• NEW! Public Meeting - Panel Discussion of Water Supply Options for Hinkley - May 22, 2013, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. (English/Spanish)
• Public meeting on March 14, 2013, regarding manganese in domestic wells and discussion of recent workplans submitted by PG&E. Meeting announcement is provided in English and Spanish
• New! Meeting materials from March 14, 2013 meeting in Hinkley
  • Manganese Working Group Status Sheet [English | Spanish]
  • Water Board staff presentation
  • PG&E’s Chromium plume definition workplan in response to CAO R6V-2008-002A4, dated Feb. 22, 2013
    • Addendum to the chromium plume definition workplan, dated March 15, 2013
    • Water Board Response to PG&E Workplan, dated May 2, 2013
  • PG&E’s In-situ Remediation Zone (IRZ) byproduct plume investigation workplan, dated Feb. 15, 2013
• Public comments requested on PGE’s request to modify the whole house replacement water program and related monitoring plans. Comments are requested by March 20, 2013.
  • PG&E's request for clarification on Water Board's position regarding access agreements for whole house water systems, dated April 2, 2013
    • Water Board response to PG&E’s request for clarification regarding access agreements, dated April 18, 2013
  • PG&E's Update on Whole House Water Program, dated April 2, 2013
  • Water Board Prosecution Team comments on PG&E’s request to modify whole house replacement water program
    • CAC Response to Prosecution Comments (April 9, 2013)
  • New! Comments Received
    • Banks (dated March 20, 2013)
    • Dishmon (dated February 21, 2013)
    • Burns (March 20, 2013)
    • Hernandez (March 20, 2013)
    • Project Navigator (March 20, 2013)
• Public and Agency comments on Draft EIR for Hinkley Groundwater Cleanup Plan now available (posted 11/14/12)
• Public health information for Hinkley available here.
• Draft Environmental Impact Report for PG&E Hinkley groundwater chromium cleanup available for review.

Water Board Orders

Investigative Orders

• Investigative Order No R6V-2013-0029, Comments and Water Board Order concerning Chromium Plume Investigation Workplan
• Water Board Comments on PG&E’s Manganese Investigation Workplan (required by Investigative Order [IO] R6V-2012-0060), and new IO R6V-2013-0026, dated March 26, 2013
• Executive Officer’s response to PG&E’s request for extensions on due dates (note that enclosures are not included due to large file size)
• PG&E’s request for extensions on due dates for manganese workplan and quarterly monitoring report submittal
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2013-0001, Requiring Additional Reporting and Acceptance of Replacement Water Program Change, dated January 11, 2013
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2012-0060A1, Extension of Deadline for Byproduct Monitoring Workplan submittal, dated January 3, 2013
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2012-0060, requiring PG&E to conduct additional byproduct plume monitoring related to in-situ remediation, dated December 21, 2012
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2012-0057, request for uranium, and gross alpha and beta radiation data (posted 11/2/12)
• Investigative Order No R6V-2012-0007, Requiring PG&E to install additional monitoring wells, dated January 20, 2012
• Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0105, Requiring PG&E to provide information on laboratory quality control data, dated December 29, 2011
  • PG&E’s Response to Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0105
• Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0104, Requiring PG&E to provide information regarding domestic wells, dated December 15, 2011
• Investigative Order R6V-2011-0079, Requiring Additional Information in Groundwater Monitoring Reports, dated September 29, 2011
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0078, dated September 23, 2011
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0054, Requiring PG&E to submit quarterly reports on plume stability, dated July 29, 2011
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0053, Requiring PG&E to Request for Revised Manganese Mitigation Plan, dated July 29, 2011
• Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0052, Requiring PG&E to Provide Additional Information Regarding Subsurface Conditions Near Well 34-65, dated July 28, 2011
• Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0051, Requiring PG&E to Provide Information on Compliance Status Towards Plume Capture, dated July 28, 2011
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0043, Acceptance of Work Plans for Upper and Lower Aquifer Plume Investigations, June 3, 2011, dated June 3, 2011
• Investigative Order No. RB6V-2010-0055 to Delineate Chromium Contamination in the Lower Aquifer, dated November 8, 2010
• Investigative Order No. R6V-2010-0038 to Conduct Additional Groundwater Investigation to the East and North, dated August 11, 2010

Cleanup Orders

• PG&E’s Petition to the State Water Board regarding CAO R6V-2008-002A4, petition dated February 7, 2013
  • Petition cover letter
  • Petition
• Project Navigator’s clarifying comments on PG&E’s petition, dated February 28,2013
• New! Final CAO R6V-2008-002A4, requiring PG&E to fully define chromium plume in groundwater
• Water Board Prosecution Team response to comments received on draft CAO requiring PG&E to further define chromium in groundwater (posted 10/30/12)
  • Updated Proposed CAO R6V-2008-002A4
    • Attachment: Map of Area of Allowable Plume Expansion (posted 11/01/12)
• Comments sought by August 10, 2012 on amended Cleanup and Abatement Order to PG&E Hinkley Compressor Station, requiring PG&E to further define chromium plume in groundwater (posted 7/26/12)
  • Comments received on draft amended Cleanup Order to PG&E for further plume definition:
    • Hinkley Residents
    • Project Navigator LTD, on behalf of Hinkley Community Advisory Committee
    • Carmela Spasojevich
    • Pacific Gas and Electric Company
• Adopted Amended Cleanup and Abatement Order R6V-2011-0005A2 Requiring Whole House Replacement Water, PG&E, Hinkley Compressor Station, San Bernardino County
• Frequently Asked Questions about Whole House Replacement Water Supply
• Water Board Staff comments on PG&E whole house water treatment systems proposal, dated December 16, 2011
• Adopted Cleanup and Abatement Order Requiring Whole House Replacement Water, PG&E, Hinkley Compressor Station, San Bernardino County
  • Comments Received
  • Executive Officer Request for Information to the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (posted 7/19/11)
  • Memorandum dated August 17, 2011 from the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to the Request for Information posted above (posted 8/17/11)
• Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2011-0005 - PG&E to provide Interim Replacement Water, dated January 7, 2011
• Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2008-0002 - August 6, 2008
  • Amendments 1, 2, and 3 to CAO No. R6V-2008-0002
• Settlement Agreement between PGE and Water Board for Alleged Violations of 2008 Cleanup and Abatement Order (posted 2/1/12)
  • Board staff response to comments for Settlement Agreement (dated 3/8/12)

Discharge Permits

• R6V-2004-0034 (Adopted July 27, 2004) - New Waste Discharge Requirements for the PG&E Company Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project, San Bernardino Co.
  • R6V-2004-0034A1 (Adopted November 28, 2007) - Amended Waste Discharge Requirements for PG&E, Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project and Monitoring and Reporting Program, San Bernardino Co.
  • R6V-2004-0034A2 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Amended Waste Discharge Requirements for PG&E, Desert View Dairy Revised Optimization Project, San Bernardino Co.
  • R6V-2004-0034A2 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Amended Monitoring and Reporting Program for PG&E, Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project, San Bernardino Co.
  • R6V-2010-0032 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Resolution Adopting an Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declarations for PG&E Desert View Dairy Revised Optimization Project, San Bernardino Co.
• Notice of Applicability for Combining Three In-Situ Projects - July 7, 2010
• Notice of Applicability for Ethanol Use at Source Area In-Situ Remediation Project - August 17, 2009
  • NOA Enclosure 1  |  NOA Enclosure 2  |  NOA Enclosure 3
• Notice of Applicability for General Site-Wide Remediation Project - April 7, 2009
• General Waste Discharge Requirements R6V-2008-0014

Public Health Information

• Click here for Hinkley public health assessments and chemical fact sheets.

Other Documents

• PG&E’s Western Area Technical Memorandum of January 28, 2013 (posted 2/21/2013)
• PG&E’s response to March 9, 2011 Water Board meeting (posted 4/15/11)
• Water Board staff memo to Water Board Members concerning the Board's authority to require replacement drinking water

Chromium Background Study

• Results of statistical analysis of data subsets from PG&E’s 2007 Background Study Report. Supporting materials can be downloaded here:
  • Summary Sheet and Staff Report  |  Staff Presentation on Item 3
• Information on the Scientific Peer Review of PG&E's 2007 Chromium Background Study Results
• Frequently Asked Questions about PG&E's Background Chromium Study in Hinkley
• Staff Report, Background Chromium Study, PG&E Hinkley, August 2008

PG&E Feasibility Study

• Addendum #3 of Feasibility Study-Sept. 15, 2011 (Geotracker link)
• PG&E's Proposed Chromium Cleanup Plan (the Feasibility Study) and Water Board comments
• PG&E’s Addendum #2 Feasibility Study - March 3, 2011
• Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0047 requiring PG&E to submit information to address Agency comments on the Feasibility Study - July 13, 2011

Map of Chromium Plume

• 1st Quarter 2013 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5” x 11”, prints on four sheets)
• 1st Quarter 2013 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11” x 17”, two sheets)
• 4th Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5” x 11”, prints on four sheets)
• 4th Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11” x 17”, two sheets)
• 3rd Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" x 11" size, prints on four sheets)
• 3rd Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11" x 17" size, two sheets)
• 2nd Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" x 11" size, prints on four sheets)
• 2nd Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11" x 17" size, two sheets)
• 1st Quarter 2012 Print Version of Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" x 11" size, prints on four sheets)
• 1st Quarter 2012 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11" x 17" size, two sheets)
• 4th Quarter 2011 Print Version of Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" x 11" size, prints on two sheets)
• 4th Quarter 2011 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11" x 17" size)
• 3rd Quarter 2011 Print Version of Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" X 11" size, prints on two sheets)
• 3rd Quarter 2011 Upper Aquifer Plume Map
• 2nd Quarter Print Versions of plume maps (8.5" x 11" size)
  • Maximum chromium concentrations in shallow upper aquifer
  • Most recent chromium concentrations in shallow upper aquifer
  • Maximum chromium concentrations in deep upper aquifer
  • Maximum chromium concentrations in upper aquifer, northwest plume area
  • Most recent chromium concentrations in upper aquifer, northwest plume area
• 2nd Quarter - 2011 | First Quarter - 2011
• November 2010 (rev 2/2011)
  8.5" x 11" print version of November 2010 plume map (this map is split into 2 sections for printing on standard letter-size paper)
• August 2010
  (This is the first time the 3.1 ppb chromium concentration boundary is shown. It was previously mapped to the 4.0 ppb concentration line.

Questions or Comments about the Hinkley Project?

• Please email Lisa Dernbach or phone 530 542-5424.

(Updated 5/17/13)