San Diego County Grand Jury
• 2012-2013
Mission Valley Fuel Leakage and Contamination Abatement
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings 6 findings
F01
It is not economically reasonable to relocate the MVT fuel storage and distribution facility to a more environmentally desirable site within the San Diego area. Fact: The MTV facility fuel seepage has contaminated soil and water within the Mission Valley watershed Fact: The MVT owner monitors water quality in test wells located on MVT property and the Qualcomm Stadium parking lots. RWQCB receives and analyzes the data obtained from MVT's groundwater monitoring wells. Fact: The City has on-line access to the soil and water contamination data as posted from measurements collected by the MVT owner. It relies on assessments of this data provided by the RWQCB. Fact: The City Public Utilities Department drilled and operates several groundwater monitoring test wells located on City property on the southern side of the San Diego River adjacent to a Qualcomm Stadium parking lot near the Interstate 805 overpass. Fact: The City operated test wells have found the same types of soil and water contamination as found under the Qualcomm parking lots.
F02
The City does not have an adequate independent City-owned and operated monitoring capability in the impacted portions of Mission Valley in the areas within and surrounding Qualcomm Stadium that is separate and distinct from those monitoring wells controlled by the MVT owner.
F03
Results from the two City-operated monitoring wells located on the south side of the San Diego River indicate that the fuel plume is larger than prior data suggests. Fact: The City asserts “Pueblo Water Rights” over the water resources of the San Diego aquifer. Los Angeles and San Diego are the only two cities with Pueblo Water Rights recognized by judicial decisions. Fact: The RWQCB is allowing the MVT operator to utilize the Mission Valley aquifer for mitigation of the fuel plume.
F04
The City of San Diego should continue to assert Pueblo Water Rights over the Mission Valley aquifer. Fact: The San Diego County RWQCB issued the first cleanup order to the MVT owner in 1992. Fact: The cleanup order requires the remediation of liquid gasoline from the subsurface and groundwater by December 31, 2010, and that the concentrations of dissolved phase petroleum hydrocarbon are reduced to attain pre-contamination conditions by December 31, 2013. Fact: The public has not been informed about the progress of the cleanup efforts. Fact: The MVT owner requested an extension of the deadlines.
F05
The San Diego public needs to be better informed of status of the Mission Valley watershed due to contamination from MVT petroleum product leakage and the effectiveness of the ongoing contamination abatement and cleanup efforts.
F06
The City needs an up-to-date long-range plan for oversight of the MVT fuel containment control and stabilization efforts. This plan should identify ways to reduce the possibility of future fuel leakage from this facility. Development of this plan should not be delayed until future settlement of on-going litigation. The plan should take into account necessary actions based on either settlement outcome whether or not in the City’s favor.
Recommendations 3
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13-73Page 9Establish a City-owned and operated monitoring capability in the
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13-74Page 9Provide quarterly reports to the public concerning results obtained
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13-75Page 9Develop a long-range plan for oversight of the MVT fuel containment
No Responses Found 1
Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.
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