Water Officials Tell Rialto That Perchlorate Levels Are Safe!! (SB Sun Jan, 11, 2008)

BS Ranch Perspective

I don't know about you, but just the idea that PERCHLORATE was, or might be, in the water that is coming out of the Tap, at my home, of which I have a filter on that would not even come close to catching any of the PERCHLORATE that was in the Tap water that I have at my home to drink. Especially knowing that PERCHLORATE contamination causes thyroid cancer and all kinds of other cancers that they don't even mention in any report, they just talk about the main thing that PERCHLORATE attacks and that is the thyroid gland.

I guess at the meeting the officials from the water department was trying to give us reassurance and say that the water at our homes is no longer contaminated with the PERCHLORATE because it has been removed from the water through osmosis filtration, however I know people in the City of Rialto that have lost family Members to the PERCHLORATE contamination and I don't think that they would believe anyone that the PERCHLORATE was removed 100%!!

BS Ranch

Water officials tell Rialto that perchlorate levels are safe

By Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 01/11/2008 10:22:20 PM PST

RIALTO - The water here is safe to drink. That was the message city officials pushed at a town-hall meeting at Frisbie Middle School.

The meeting this week focused on the chemical perchlorate, which is contaminating local drinking water.

Rialto and West Valley Water District officials - which together serve water to the vast majority of Rialto - told residents they don't have to worry about the water coming out of their tap.

"We run the systems until there's no detectable perchlorate," Bill Hunt, an engineering consultant for Rialto, said of the treatment systems at the Thursday meeting.

Perchlorate, a chemical used to produce explosives like rocket fuel and fireworks, is flowing through Rialto from an industrial site north of the 210 Freeway that dates back to World War II.

The panel at the meeting included City Council members Winnie Hanson and Ed Scott, who make up the perchlorate subcommittee, as well as medical, engineering and environmental consultants. For the first hour, the experts made presentations that at times confused people in attendance with talk of "resins" and "lag vessels."

Perchlorate can block the thyroid gland's access to iodine and cause an underactive thyroid, said Mary McDaniel, a doctor and lawyer with the firm McDaniel Lambert Inc. who reviewed a number of recent studies.

"So some of these studies make you worry a little bit more, some of them make you worry a little less. That's science,"

she said.

The thyroid is necessary for metabolism and brain development. It is not well understood how perchlorate affects sensitive populations like pregnant women and children.

McDaniel also pointed out that bottled-water companies do not have to test for perchlorate. If the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets a standard for perchlorate in drinking water, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration might set a perchlorate standard for bottled water, according to the FDA's Web site.

The second half of the meeting was set aside for residents to ask questions.

People with relatives who have birth defects and thyroid conditions wanted to know if perchlorate could have caused them.

Kit Satre, who lives in Yucaipa but worked in Rialto starting in 1985, said she has two children with such serious birth defects that they have had 50 surgeries between them.

But McDaniel said she was not aware of perchlorate causing birth defects, and West Valley Water District board President Earl Tillman said his customers have never been exposed to high levels of perchlorate.

Thursday's meeting had a very different tone than past meetings, which city officials have used to attack San Bernardino County for its role in some of the contamination, as well as to question the safety of West Valley's water.

Scott on Thursday heaped praise on other elected officials, including Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, and welcomed West Valley representatives.

"We're not serving any perchlorate," said Tillman, the president of West Valley's board.

If West Valley detects perchlorate in one of its wells, it takes the well offline or installs a treatment system, said General Manager Anthony "Butch" Araiza.

A West Valley well with a perchlorate level of 2 parts per billion is no longer online, he said.

Rialto officials say they do not serve water from wells if they detect perchlorate in the wells.

Fontana Water Co., the other big water agency in Rialto and a division of the San Gabriel Valley Water Co., does not serve water contaminated with perchlorate beyond the state's maximum level of 6 ppb, said Robert Young, assistant general manager.

Scott also told residents not to buy personal water treatment systems to clean out the perchlorate because the people selling them may be trying to scam residents.

He also encouraged people to write Marshall Larsen, the chairman, president and CEO of Goodrich, one of the companies Rialto says is responsible for the contamination. Scott said they should tell him to stop fighting Rialto.

jason.pesick@sbsun.com

(909) 386-3861

Water Supplies to Local Area Being Cut Drastically (Daily Bulletin November 29, 2007)This story follows the 14:30hrs update that the water supplies we

BS Ranch Perspective

I don't know what my thoughts are today that are different then yesterday, other then I have been thinking an awful lot about the Hydrogen Engine that is going on the market next year when the Water supplies to the Municipal Cities in Southern California are being Cut in Half!! If there is already an Oil Shortage, and we start to run our Vehicles on Hydrogen Engines that would mean that all oil sources would shift from GAS/DIESEL to plain WATER, if our FRESH WATER is cut in half and we are not using any of it for driving CARS what will happen when Honda, and Chevrolet gets their HYDROGEN ENGINES running at a full swing, and people buy into it!!

YOU THINK WATER SHORTAGES NOW!!! WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR OR THE YEAR AFTER!!!!

BS Ranch

Water supplies to local area being cut drastically

By Shawbong Fok, Staff Writer

The Inland Empire's water supplies from Northern California next year are going to be cut in half thanks to a drought as well as an endangered fish swimming in a delta near Sacramento that needs the water.

In the face of less water flowing locally, landscapers, golf courses and even citrus growers might get socked with higher water bills.

"We might hand water (with a hose) the dry spots," said Bill Henning, superintendent of Shandin Hills Golf Club in San Bernardino.

The water cuts are the result of some of the driest weather in years.

The Inland Empire's apportionment of water next year has been cut because of the drought hitting the state, according to the State Water Contractors, a nonprofit of 27 public agencies that buys water under contract from the California State Water Project.

San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, which serves about 600,000 residents in an area spanning Fontana to Yucaipa, is part of this water group.

In 2008, the water district is expected to get 58 percent less water than this year from the state, said Randy Van Gelder, water district general manager.

"I don't know if there'll be a raise in rates," said Joe Zoba, Yucaipa Valley Water District general manager. "Just because there's a shortage of water from the state doesn't mean there'll be an increase in water rates."

The California State Water Project includes reservoirs, lakes, storage tanks, canals, tunnels,

pipelines and pumping and power plants that move and store water in the state.

Collectively, the State Water Contractors deliver water to more than 25 million residents in the state and to more than 750,000 acres of agricultural land.

The water delivery cuts, which are among the largest since 2003 in the Inland Empire, are attributed to a legal ruling that is trying to protect an endangered fish, called the smelt.

That fish needs the water in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta where it lives. The delta is located at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.

On Aug. 31, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger limited how much water could be delivered from the delta between December and June.

The State Water Contractors announced water cuts that will permit the statewide consortium to purchase only 25 percent of the requested water.

This will only supply about half of what's needed for the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, officials said.

"We'll have to secure more water from Northern California," Van Gelder said.

Sixty percent to 70 percent of water from the State Water Contractors is used for landscapes, both commercial and residential.

The result of these cuts will be conservation measures, including everything from the showcasing of low water-retention plants and irrigation techniques to tests in San Bernardino parks on remote-controlled sprinklers that conserve water.

This isn't the first time a water shortage has hit Californians. Drought conditions in the early 1990s pushed water agencies to adopt conservation techniques.

"Conservation is a means to adapt to water changes," said Linda Fernandez, an environmental scientist at UC Riverside.

The Inland Empire is one of the nation's fastest growing areas, resulting in more water needs than ever.

Already, San Bernardino County has some 2 million residents, hundreds of thousands of more people than a decade ago.

Not all water agencies in California will implement the same water-saving techniques.

"Each agency will respond differently depending on local conditions," said Bob Muir, spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which serves western San Bernardino Valley residents, as well as metropolitan Los Angeles and San Diego.

on Monday shawbong.fok@sbsun.com

(909) 386-3885

14:30 Hrs Today: Inland Empire's Water Supplies Cut in Half (SB Sun November 28, 2007) The Inland Empire's Water Supplies From Northern California are

BS Ranch Perspective

It seems that the Water Drought is catching up to the water public of the West San Bernardino Water District, along with the People that use the Rialto Water Department for their water, but reading this report it isn't the people of Rialto or the County Area Surrounding the City of Rialto, This report is covering the East Valley Water District, The West Valley Water District, the Rialto Water Department, the San Bernardino City Water Department as well!! Not only those cities but, Colton's Water Ranchio's water, Fontana, and Ontario's water Departments & or Supply agencies are going to have to cut their usages in half as well. Not only is my lawn going to be Brown, but everyone surrounding my block will be brown as well!!

There will not be able to have anyone to be able to wash cars in their driveways or as I previously stated the Automatic Sprinklers will have to be turned to the Off position to be treated to the super light water position. Soon, if this DROUGHT continues the way that it has, we will not be allowed to take a shower everyday. Dome people will be asked to take a shower once a week to avoid any further cuts from our water discomfort.

If the DROUGHT CONTINUES FURTHER THEN WE EXPECT IT TO, we could end up like that city in Mississippi, where they get their water turned on from 18:00 hrs to 21:00 hrs every Monday through Saturday for their whole water needs, they are forced to stock up on water for all their needs through the day, for example the three hours that their water is on is spent filling the bathtub, and then filling plastic Gallon Jugs, Bottles, and five gallon Jersey can's all are used to fill the toilet after they go to the bathroom. They cannot flush the toilet after each and every Urination, they must allow the yellow pool of goodness to stay in the bottom of the toilet and ferment until somebody has to have a Bowel Clearance, then when that is done they are cleared to use some water to clear the solid waist from the bowl. The showers that they take are done so, or tried to be done so during the three hours that there water is turned on, Since the water is being used all over town the pressure is so low that they are lucky to get any pressure to get the water to take any kind of shower. some or most households take an old fashion bath of the depression days when the most important bread winner took the first bath and the next one got into that dirty bath water on down to the children. they all used the same water because it not only saved money using the same water, but it would could save a great deal of money by taking that bath.

It is unfortunate that we are coming to this crossroad, but the talk of Global warming has come up, but I just have been wondering this Where has all the water gone, There is all kinds of documentation that the water isn't frozen in glaciers. if the water isn't stored in Ice and on Mountains were has the water gone, the drought is here, the water table isn't raised anywhere it is lower, the water is gone where is all our water gone, through that hole into outer space?? if so space has a hole bunch of our water.

THE NEXT THINK IS IF WE ALL STARTED DRIVING HYDROGEN ENGINES TODAY, WILL MAKE COUNTIES GO TO WAR OVER WATER AND NOT OIL, MARK WHAT I AM SAYING, BECAUSE WATER IS MORE OF A NATURAL SENSE OF THINGS THAT WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT!!!.

BS RANCH

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2:30 p.m.: Inland Empire's water supplies cut in half

By Shawbong Fok, Staff Writer

The Inland Empire's water supplies from northern California are going to be halved next year.

This is all thanks to a drought and an endangered smelt swimming in an inland delta near Sacramento that instead needs the water.

Landscapers, golf courses and even the food we eat might get socked with higher water bills, even in the face of less water flowing here.

"We might hand water [with a hose] the dry spots," said Bill Henning, superintendent of Shandin Hills Golf Club in San Bernardino.

The water cuts are the result of some of the driest weather in years. The IE's apportionment of water next year has been cut because of the drought hitting the state, according to the State Water Contractors, a non-profit group of 27 public agencies in California that buys water under contract from the California State Water Project.

San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, which serves some 600,000 residents in an area spanning from Fontana to Yucaipa, is part of this water group. In 2008, it's expected to get 58 percent less water than this year from the state, said Randy Van Gelder, general manager of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

shawbong.fok@sbsun.com

Closed-Door Water Talks Frustrate Rialto Council (SB Sun November 26, 2007) "What Goes Around: Comes Around"

BS Ranch Perspective

I know that this subject matter is not the thing that you want the anyone to feel what it is like to have all the business conducted behind closed doors, but sometimes the old saying "What Goes Around Comes Around" comes to mind with this story!!

The reason being is that the Rialto City Council is crying because the people in charge of the Perchlorate situation that THEY are in Charge of, are ignoring all their requests and going behind closed doors and having the meetings to discuss the Perchlorate problems. Ed Scott, Owen, and others are very confused why this is happening to them, Well I have to say that "What goes Around, Comes Around"!

The people of Rialto didn't speak out the last time and they are asking for the services that they are getting when it comes to the business of Rialto and what goes on there. The Perchlorate should have been turned over to the Environmental Protection Agency at the start, but the City Council listened to the Council whom is not working in the best interest of his Client, but the best interest of his WALLET!! He Recommended going to Court and filing a case against businesses that were probably not in control of the employees that were dumping the perchlorate in the first place. They were the companies that purchased the smaller companies that were responsible for the disposal of the Perchlorate. The EPA, should have been called to begin with, and then the EPA should have been the people that should have been after the responsible party for the DISPOSAL of PERCHLORATE!! It wasn't up to Rialto directly to be the police for the EPA. Owen just wanted to fill his wallet with a whole bunch of money that he would be using for this case. The other employees of the city that were on board were hired by Owen as experts for their testimony.

Now this is all coming back to bite the city Council in the butt and still nobody is up in arms against them, nobody is wondering why they spent some $23Million dollars of the Utility Tax to get through the first part of this Perchlorate Battle, and now that they are not seeing any recourse and any money coming back in, Owen is still not being fired. I don't get it??

BS Ranch




Closed-door water talks frustrate Rialto council
Jason Pesick, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 11/26/2007 09:35:13 PM PST


Rialto wants its groundwater cleaned up, but a local water board has cut the city out of talks with three companies who are in "closed-door briefings" on the remediation process.
The city, which wrote a strongly worded letter Monday to the state's Environmental Protection Agency headquarters complaining about the insider talks, views the negotiations as a slap in its face.

It wants to be at the table on the talks to clean up industrial chemicals discharged in its northern section because it did a lion's share of the legwork to build a legal case against the companies.

The three companies accused of contaminating a 160-acre site in Rialto are Goodrich, Emhart - a defunct division of Black & Decker - and Rialto-based fireworks company Pyro Spectaculars.

The purpose of the letter on Monday was to request that state EPA Secretary Linda Adams order the local water board to open the door to city officials on the talks with the companies.

"Rialto needs more than a prayer and a hope that the regional board staff will safeguard Rialto's water interests," wrote councilmembers Winnie Hanson and Ed Scott. "We simply want our underground drinking water supply cleaned up so it can be replenished in the future."

Rialto officials say that 720million gallons of water will become contaminated while the water board and companies "talk" over the next few months.

"I think it's totally ridiculous," said Scott, a member of the council's perchlorate subcommittee.

"Why are they doing it behind closed doors? It makes no sense to me," he said.

Scott suggested that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger should dissolve the regional board.

The staff of the local water agency - called the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board - and lawyers for the companies, recently agreed to negotiate a possible settlement.

"The parties have agreed to enter settlement discussions," said Bob Wyatt, a lawyer for Emhart.

The two sides only agreed to talk recently after a court hearing was put off last week that would have examined whether public hearings could proceed on who was responsible for the pollution.

"We are seeking a settlement that achieves cleanup of the perchlorate and TCE contamination ... (flowing down from) the 160-acre site," said Gerard Thibeault, the Santa Ana board's executive officer, referring to the Riverside-based Santa Ana board's recent cleanup efforts.

TCE, or trichloroethylene, is a solvent used in various industrial cleaning products.

Perchlorate, used to produce explosives like rocket fuel and fireworks, is flowing through Rialto from industrial sites first used by the U.S. military during World War II.

Perchlorate can be harmful to humans by interfering with the thyroid gland, which plays a role in metabolism and neurological development.

The state umbrella group that oversees the Santa Ana board, called the State Water Resources Control Board, was scheduled to hold hearings in August to determine if the three companies should clean up some of the perchlorate. Rialto and the staff from the regional Santa Ana board, headed by Thibeault, were going to act as prosecutors against the companies.

But before the hearings could start, the companies filed lawsuits saying that the state board process was flawed and asked Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Dzintra Janavs to keep the hearings from getting off the ground.

Janavs halted the hearing process. On Nov. 1, she consolidated the companies' lawsuits into one and made it clear that no matter what she decides, someone will appeal the case, likely up to the California Supreme Court.

On Nov. 21, the two sides - the companies versus the regional and state water boards, which are represented by the California attorney general - were scheduled to argue about whether Janavs should allow the state hearings to go forward. But Wednesday's arguments were delayed because the parties said they wanted to talk.

Rialto officials complained that they were not part of the discussions between the parties. Rialto provided a majority of the regional board's evidence against the suspected polluters.

"We can only hope that the regional board staff is going to obtain the emergency cleanup that this community needs," said Bob Owen, Rialto's city attorney.

Scott said at the next council meeting on Dec. 4, he hopes the council will vote to recommend Schwarzenegger ask the EPA to declare the 160-acre site a Superfund site.

Also on Wednesday, Thibeault ordered Ken Thompson, who owns land above the McLaughlin Pit, which is a major source of perchlorate contamination, to conduct a soil and groundwater investigation.

Rialto Pursues State Aid Over Perchlorate Plume (Press Enterprise; November 24, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective

I keep repeating myself on this issue, and this is the last time that I write on this one. The City of Rialto Engineers or the City of Rialto's Lawyer's came out with a Press Release Yesterday stating that there was an Emergency Situation when it came to the water in The City of Rialto!! Well, the problem with that is that there wasn't any previous announcement of any Pending Emergency, such as that we cannot clean our cars or Water our Lawns! As far as I know at this point and time there still isn't any Emergency enough to make a statement that says that we cannot wash our cars in the driveway or Water the Grass in our Yards!! It is just some tactic to get the EPA to take up the cause against the Businesses that the Law Suit is over currently, and I believe that this is a Brain Child of the same Half Witted Individual that came up with the great Idea to Sue the businesses that were supposedly at fault for the Perchlorate Contamination. But that was a huge backfire too now wasn't it!!

Owens should be fired before that 8% Utility Tax is taken up for that and only that!!!

BS Ranch

Rialto pursues state aid over perchlorate plume

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10:00 PM PST on Tuesday, November 20, 2007

By MARY BENDER
The Press-Enterprise

RIALTO - The City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved an official declaration of local emergency, a mechanism to persuade the state to help clean up and stop the spread of perchlorate fouling Rialto's groundwater.

The city has been battling several companies that did business on a 160-acre industrial site -- believed to be the source of the pollution -- but assorted claims of legal responsibility remain unresolved while the contamination continues to spread.

"This is the best move we ever made," Rialto Mayor Grace Vargas said after the vote. "I think we've wasted too much time already."

The chemical perchlorate, suspected of causing birth defects, is contaminating 360 million gallons of Rialto's drinking water each month. Rialto's request to Gov. Schwarzenegger also seeks funding to stop the 6-mile-long plume of tainted groundwater, which moves about 20 inches per day.

The contaminants have polluted the Rialto/Colton Groundwater Basin, an underground reservoir from which Rialto pumps drinking water through several wells.

A hearing is scheduled for today in Los Angeles Superior Court, on a lawsuit filed by Goodrich Corporation, one of 42 "potentially responsibility parties" in the long-running conflict with the city. Rialto contends that the basin was polluted over the decades by several businesses that operated on the site north of Highway 210 in Rialto. Besides Goodrich, those companies include Pyro Spectaculars, Inc., Black & Decker Inc., Kwikset Locks, Inc., Kwikset Corporation and Emhart Industries, Inc.

The plume "is headed toward the city of Colton and the city of Riverside," City Councilman Ed Scott said on Monday. "The city stands firm on the responsible parties cleaning it up."

Meanwhile, Rialto has installed filters on several city wells to reduce the perchlorate to levels that make it safe.

"The maintenance of each well costs (the city) approximately $500,000 per year," Scott said on Monday. During Tuesday's Rialto council meeting, City Attorney Robert Owen noted the past year's paltry rainfall totals are putting pressure on water agencies all over California to scramble for a sufficient supply.

"The city and county are experiencing an unprecedented regional drought," Owen said. Further, a federal district court judge issued a preliminary ruling in a case to protect an endangered fish, the Delta smelt, which is expected to significantly reduce the amount of water available from the State Water Project aqueduct, Owen said.

Rialto Declairs a Water Emergancy (LA Times Nov. 23, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective

According to this story in the LA times the city of Rialto is making another move on another strategy to see if they can get the Environmental Agency to move from their first findings on that they have a Court Case started that they should play out the way that it is working in court! Since they cannot get the problem fixed, and the money that they are getting to come in now on the new Taxes are for other expenses that they want that they are going to attempt to get the EPA to take another look into the Sudden Emergency that Rialto is under with the lack of Fresh Water that we are under. Yet There has not been any Issuance of Problems related to the lack of fresh water to keep our yards green and our plants nice and the cars in our driveways clean.

Even with this State of Emergency that has been Printed in the Los Angeles Times, they still have not asked via local efforts for Rialto not to Water or Wash our Cars Etc Etc...

I don't know what the Emergency is But that they are getting tired of paying for the Law Suit that they were talked into by their City Lawyer that should have been fired Back when the Sheriff Department was not Hired as the Law Enforcement Agency, and the whole Law Suit was lost to the Rialto Police Benefit Association. Then and only then was the time that the City Council should have rolled the heads of City Administrator Garcia, and the representation for Rialto as the lawyer Owens...but NOOO they were kept...that means they have to much dirt on the current administration running the city!!!

BS Ranch

Rialto declares a water emergency

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The city hopes to get state funding to help clean up and halt chemical contamination of its drinking water supply.

By Susannah Rosenblatt, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
November 24, 2007

Rialto city officials have declared a state of emergency, citing concerns about a shrinking water supply in danger of further contamination by dangerous chemicals.

The City Council voted on the declaration Tuesday in an attempt to secure state funding to halt the spread of industrial perchlorate in city groundwater. The growing, six-mile-long chemical plume in the north end of the San Bernardino County city contaminates 360 million gallons of groundwater each month.

"It's time now that somebody heard us and helped us," said Mayor Grace Vargas. "We need to protect our citizens."

The declaration criticizes state and local regulatory agencies for failing to aggressively enforce cleanup efforts, and warns that Rialto would be "extremely vulnerable" in the event of a "catastrophic interruption" of its clean water supply.

Although the city says its safeguards prevent residents from drinking polluted water, the plume grows about 20 inches a day and poses a growing threat to nearby communities such as Colton, officials said.

The wet winter of several years ago caused the levels of perchlorate in water samples to spike, said Rialto Mayor Pro Tem Winnie Hanson. About half a dozen wells are affected by contamination, said Councilman Ed Scott.

In addition, Hanson said, drought conditions and water shortages in Northern California have increased pressure on Rialto's aquifer, the city's main source of drinking water.

"It is now beyond the city's water department to continue to provide a safe, affordable and reliable water supply," states the city declaration, which cautions that Rialto might have to impose water rationing or a moratorium on new water hookups.

"It's really jeopardizing our growth," Scott said.

The city has spent an estimated $20 million over several years on cleanup efforts and legal fees in an ongoing lawsuit against several corporations that it blames for causing the pollution at a 160-acre site, Hanson said.

More than 40 companies are alleged to be involved in the contamination, including Goodrich Corp., Pyro Spectaculars and Black & Decker. The cleanup could cost as much as $300 million.

Perchlorate, used in rocket fuel, batteries and fireworks, can interfere with thyroid function and produce birth defects.

susannah.rosenblatt @latimes.com

Rialto Declares Water Emergancy as Dryness Grips SoCal Region (Assoc. Press; November 22, 2007)

BS Ranch Perspective:

Rialto has had a court battle with The Companies that they feel are involved in the contamination of the water Supply below the Water Table of Rialto. The Water Department has to install these huge Filtration Systems that are known as Reverse Osmosis Filtration System, where it uses Electrical power to Reverse the polarity of the water as it comes from the ground and that allows the filters to remove the Perchlorate from the Water, This is the best way that I can describe the situation in my most plan English, as good as I understand how the filters work??

Rialto City however, could have very well have avoided this whole situation by contacting the EPA first, and had them help through Grants in acquiring  the  filters needed to  remove the  contamination from the water that would make it safe to drink. However, since the  Environmental Protection Agency was not contacted first, and the Rialto's City Lawyer was listened to, they went to Court!! Since the Can of worms has been opened, they cannot go back and break the egg that they broke, by the court event that they decided to go down. The $23Million so far that has been spent, I can gamble to say most of has been entered into the pockets of the Litigator with whom had the great Idea to go to court in the first Place, and that was Mr. Owen. The City Attorney. I am sorry I don't trust them at all especially after my court case with my Workers Compensation Case.

Now that the city is totally involved in this case they are on the streets begging for the city to Vote for an extension for another 8% tax on the utility taxes, all utilities!! My cellular phone was $150 for three phones, and now it is $199.00 for the same three phones. Great huh??

I just live in the sphere if influence of the City, and so because of that the Tax Applies to my address even when I live in the County, which Sucks!!   Just another reason to move!! The bills go up because they have a high crime rate because of the actions of their city council, by letting all probationary Police Personnel go, at a time when they were trying to have the County be the Law Enforcement Protection, that move reduced the Police Department down just shy of 30 (THIRTY) Positions, Now that they have lost, there is still not an equal in experience Law Enforcement surrounding us that there was, the Crime Rate has shot way up.

BS Ranch

Rialto declares water emergency as dryness grips SoCal region

The Associated Press

Article Launched: 11/22/2007 06:14:25 PM PST

RIALTO, Calif.—The Rialto City Council has declared a state of emergency as it faces a dwindling water supply and the task of removing harmful chemicals from contaminating more water.

Officials declared the emergency Tuesday in hopes of receiving state funding to help clean up a six-mile-long plume of perchlorate that's moving through the city's drinking water supply from industrial sites.

Perchlorate is a chemical used in rocket fuel and defense equipment manufacturing.

"A chronic local condition has evolved into an acute emergency," city administrator Henry Garcia wrote in the declaration ratified by the council.

Officials said a regional drought and recently imposed limits on water imported from Northern California also prompted them to declare the emergency.

Rialto is about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

Last Day of Summer is All Wet (Press Enterprise; Sat. Sept. 22, 2007) An Abnormal Rain Storm That Was an Answer to My Prayers!! BSR

BS Ranch Perspective:

The Rain was a Prayer answered, with the FIRES that were out of control burning in the news, it was my prayer answered! I wanted the fires to be well closed and easier for the Firefighters to clean up and get under control! The Fires did most of what I had prayed for but not all of what I prayed for!

With that the rain was also a huge measure of what the State of California needs. We are in such a Water Crunch that the government and non-profit agencies are just now going out of their way to report it in very very small quiet way (even though they have a commercial out on television that refers people to go to a Web site. The commercial is quiet, & refers to the web site quietly at the end of the commercial), so that in no way a panic is caused, after all they don't want people vacating their homes and fleeing California due to the water shortages, that we are in, and about to experience. But since they don't want to report the shortages of Water in the State I will, by the use of my small unread BLOG! Sad huh? Well Here is a Scary web site if you read and understand what they are talking about next year or the next we will be in some serious problems, and we will be drinking desalinized Water from the Pacific Ocean!! just to beat the shortage of water, at a cost that will be past on to the whole state of California. Just ask the governor?

BS Ranch

(http://www.CaliforniaWater.org/) The web site enclosed in the parenthesise is believed to be the Web Site that is referred to by the Commercial, However it is shown mentioned only once and you only asked to go there once at the end of the commercial if you are interested in the conservation water in California. It is all part of the information that they are required to give under the Last Proposition 13 That passed Regarding the Clean Water Act of 2005, since it passed in 2005! If you want to go to the web site I suggest that you do so it tells you everything that is going on to clean the Water in California!! It is a Great Resource for us or anyone to use that is!! B.S.R...

Last day of summer is all wet

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10:00 PM PDT on Saturday, September 22, 2007

By AARON BURGIN and LEEZEL TANGLAO
The Press-Enterprise

When the first drops of rain hit the ground in several Inland cities Saturday morning, records fell.

Rainfall records, however, were easy to achieve Saturday -- it had never rained on a Sept. 22 in the region, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

"It's all relative," meteorologist Phil Gonsalves said. "You can say it's the most powerful storm in 20 years because we just aren't used to rain this time of the year. That's why we weren't making a big deal about it."

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Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise

San Bernardino County Fire Department fire mechanic Anthony Harbeck on Saturday tries to stay dry as he performs inspections on fire equipment in Running Springs.

The slow-moving storm predicted to move into the region Friday crept inland Saturday, the last day of summer. As expected, it brought the first measurable amount of rainfall in five months to some areas and near-record low temperatures in several cities, including Riverside.

Rain totals for the 24-hour period between 5 p.m. Friday and 5 p.m. Saturday, from the National Weather Service, showed precipitation was heaviest in mountain and foothill communities, but still less than an inch.

In San Bernardino County, 0.96 inches of rain were recorded in Lake Arrowhead, 0.89 in Lytle Creek, 0.74 in Devore, 0.45 in Wrightwood and 0.21 in Oak Glen, the weather service reported.

The storm gave other Inland communities a more mild soaking: 0.31 inches of rain fell in Fontana, 0.28 in Upland, 0.24 in Rialto, 0.23 at the Corona airport, 0.20 in San Bernardino, 0.17 at the Ontario airport, 0.14 at the Chino airport 0.11 in Murrieta and 0.05 inches at UCR.

Dense fog in the mountain communities of Big Bear Lake and Lake Arrowhead were also a result of the unseasonable weather system.

Although heavy rain and fog blanketed the roads leading up to burn areas of the Butler Fire 2, east of Running Springs today, some Fawnskin residents were disappointed that they didn't get more precipitation.

"We're happy to see this rain coming. I just wished there was more of it," said Don Easton, who's lived in the area since the 1980s. Easton said he wasn't concerned about mudslides or flooding.

"It's beautiful here now. Thanks to all the help we had," he said.

Resident Johnny Johnson said things are getting back to normal in the small mountain community after the fire.

"Everything is fine. No problems. We need a little rain," Johnson said. "We like it. It's good. We live in the mountains and we have this kind of weather."

Carol Lorimor, owner of North Antiques and Collectibles, said she was surprised the storm didn't bring more rain to Fawnskin. "A bit of rain is a good thing and a whole lot of rain probably wouldn't be. What we're getting is wonderful," she said.

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Silvia Flores / The Press-Enterprise

Cal Fire engineer Phillip Derner on Saturday stays dry inside a fire truck during an inspection in Running Springs.

John Miller, spokesman U.S. Forest Service, said the fire is 100 percent contained and firefighters are mopping up.

Miller said the areas of concern for mud slides are the closed section of Highway 18 at Green Valley Road, the Big Bear Dam and around Fawnskin.

Caltrans crews have been clearing fallen rocks and debris throughout the day. Miller said they don't have an anticipated reopening date for Highway 18.

Meteorologists followed the storm for nearly a week once it formed in the cooler waters off the coast of British Columbia. Originally, they expected the low-pressure system to make its way into Southern California on Thursday, peak Friday and peter out Saturday morning.

Instead, the storm stalled off of the coast Friday, then inched its way ashore during early morning Saturday. The bulk of the storm's energy was centered in Orange and Los Angeles counties, weather service meteorologist Ed Clark said.

The rain that fell in the Inland area caused a spike in traffic accidents, California Highway Patrol senior dispatcher Paul Rogers said.

The weather played a role in at least one fatal collision. Just before 8 a.m., a big-rig slammed into the center divider on Interstate 15, south of Highway 60 in Mira Loma, killing a 34-year-old man from El Cajon and critically injuring another person, the CHP reported.

The driver, who wasn't wearing a seat belt, was thrown from the vehicle and died on the scene about 20 minutes later, according to the Riverside County coroner's office.

Meanwhile, on Saturday evening the National Weather Service predicted the storm clouds would leave the Inland Empire overnight and give way to clear skies and higher temperatures today.

"Zero rain after midnight. No more rain anywhere," said Miguel Miller, a weather service forecaster. The storm marched down from Northern California on Friday, and would probably return to that area for a second round today.

"It was kind of like a bungee jump. It dropped down and hit Southern California, and now it's going back up again," Miller said.

Staff Writer Mary Bender contributed to this story.

Reach Aaron Burgin at 951-375-3733 or aburgin@PE.com

Reach Leezel Tanglao at 951-375-3728 or ltanglao@PE.com

Rialto Eyes Toxin Money? (San Bernardino County Sun Sept. 11, 2007) City Pursuing $23Million from State!

Rialto eyes toxin money

City pursuing $23M from state

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun

Article Launched:09/11/2007 11:26:20 PM PDT

Download: Letter to Cindy Tuck RIALTO - City officials are seeking $23 million in emergency funds from the state because of perchlorate contamination in the drinking water. The contamination is not new nor has an emergency been officially declared, but Rialto has been battling the perchlorate for years. It found its way into the groundwater from the past manufacturing at industrial facilities of military rockets, fireworks and other explosives. On Aug. 29, members of the City Council met in Sacramento with a number of state officials, including Dan Dunmoyer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's deputy chief of staff. Dunmoyer suggested that Rialto look into declaring a state of emergency. "It's the only way we can get emergency funds from the governor. We have to do it," said City Councilman Ed Scott, concerning the possible declaration of a state of emergency. Scott is a member of the council's perchlorate subcommittee. The council will likely vote at its next meeting on whether to declare the emergency, he said. Perchlorate, which could cause a number of health effects by interfering with the thyroid, has been flowing through Rialto from industrial sites on the city's north end. It could cost hundreds of millions of dollars to clean up. The contamination has generated more attention in Sacramento since last month, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge halted state hearings to determine if three companies - Pyro Spectaculars, Goodrich and Black & Decker - should have to clean some of the contamination. The city laid out its funding request in a letter to Cindy Tuck, undersecretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency. The city would use the money to stop the perchlorate from continuing to move through the Rialto Basin and contaminating more clean water. Much of the money Rialto requested would also help the city better understand the extent of the contamination. Rialto has developed plans that spell out what needs to be done in order to better understand the total cleanup cost and the extent of the contamination. The city wants to use the state money to gather that information, Scott said. Then Rialto could take out an insurance policy, and parties such as the suspected polluters, would pay into the policy, to guarantee that the cleanup would be paid for. "We are seeking an emergency cleanup while we urge the state to toughen its enforcement effort against the (potentially responsible parties)," reads the letter, signed by Scott and Councilwoman Winnie Hanson, the other member of the perchlorate subcommittee. In another move that could provide Rialto with millions of dollars in cleanup money, the state Assembly last week amended legislation, which had already passed in the Senate, to provide about $50 million in remaining Proposition 84 money for drinking water cleanup. The money set aside by the Assembly amendment should go to the poorest, most populated and most contaminated areas, said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland. Perata wrote the original bill. "So Rialto of course is included in that group," Trost said. Scott said he hopes Rialto can get $15 million to $20 million of that money. Both Assembly chambers were expected to vote on the legislation during an all-night session on Tuesday. __________________________________________________ BS Ranch Perspective: When is The Rialto City Administrator going to Wake up, and go to the City Council and ask for the City's Council's Resignation. After all Owen's handling of the Perchlorate Contamination in the water was Very Flawed from the Beginning. He Started off with a massive Law Suit, Opening huge billable hours for him and his Law Firm, from which he knows that the city cannot afford. The Gamble was that the money that was generated by the Law Suit would be paid not by the City but by the private business that was named in the law suit, however the Businesses have been winning their portion of the law suits and it has made it hard for the city now to make a simple request to the Federal Government, (namely the Environment Protection Agency), to come in and assist in the clean up of the Perchlorate. Now that there is an Active Law Suit the EPA will not just step in and clean up the mess, they must wait to allow the law suit to go the full suit, now that the City of Rialto has spent over $23Million on the clean up and they have not gotten anything done to clean up the perchlorate, other then shutting down the wells that had tested beyond the measurable amount that is considered to be toxic, well the wells that are getting small amounts of Perchlorate contamination could be getting more toxic, however they might only do spot checking, but that is not information that is given to the public. Now the city's counselor has to go to the state to bail himself out of the trouble that he has dug himself into! The Rialto City Administrator Garcia still sits in his office while all this goes on, $23 Million of the city's money has been spent and is gone, if this was the Police Department and this kind of money was mishandled, I can say with 100% honesty that the City's Administrator would fire the Police Chief and accuse him of being a thief! Then the Police Department would be torn to bits in the news and the whole Police Department would be called Corrupt!! Wait, we have been down this road, only with a real Corrupt Police Chief, Just like the Cities Attorney seems to be more and more corrupt, with billing more and more money to the city when he gets the second largest check, if not the largest check second only to the City Administrator. Wait, that City Administrator is the one that sits on his hands when it seems to be the time to look into getting a new City Counsel. But who am I? I am just a Concerned Citizen that they are supposed to represent! A Citizen that they are supposed to represent without profit to self!! BS Ranch

Rialto Water Case in Stall (San Bernardino Sun 08132007) Legal Wrangling Holds City Back!!!.....

Rialto water case in stall

Legal wrangling holds city back

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer

Article Launched: 08/13/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

The long and winding road leading to cleanup of the drinking water around Rialto is getting more tortuous.

On July 31, Goodrich Corp. sued Rialto and other parties in San Bernardino Superior Court to try to force the city to require a local businessman to clean up perchlorate contamination.

Next week, Emhart Industries - a defunct company associated with Black & Decker - Goodrich and Rialto-based Pyro Spectaculars are expected to ask a Los Angeles Superior Court to stay state hearings on the perchlorate contamination.

The legal efforts are the latest action the three companies have taken to thwart the state regulatory bodies trying to get the perchlorate cleaned up.

Perchlorate, a substance used to produce rocket fuel, fireworks and other explosives, has been flowing from Rialto's north end through the city, and possibly into Colton and toward Fontana. Perchlorate can interfere with the thyroid gland, which is important in the development of unborn babies.

"What this is really about is Goodrich's attempt to deflect attention from its own responsibility for contaminating the groundwater," Cris Carrigan, one of Rialto's lawyers, said about the suit against the city.

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BS Ranch Perspective

When there is a huge price tag that is being assessed to this whole conflict there is bound to be a stall some time in the case just so that one side of the case can take the time to see what the heck that the other side is trying to or attempting to pull.

Down the road we discover that there is a possible price of $23,000,000.00 so now that the price tag is possibly that high they thought that they had better take a long recess and have a look at this whole mess!! I just hope that it is recessed for a great long time, because there is something crooked here and it isn't straight, so We had better have a look and see what they are doing. So I hope that they get a chance to have a good long look.

BS Ranch

The StateWater Resources Control Board is scheduled to hold hearings on the contamination - which was discovered in 1997 - later this month. The hearings have been delayed numerous times because of procedural objections raised by the three parties.

In the lawsuit against Rialto, Goodrich claims Rialto is obligated to order Ken Thompson, who owns land where perchlorate has been discovered, to clean up the contamination. It also says Rialto needs to enforce its own 1987 declaration requiring Thompson to clean up the area known as the McLaughlin Pit.

Goodrich has also claimed that the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, whose staff will be arguing against the three companies at the hearings, has not lived up to its responsibility to close the pit properly.

Patrick Palmer, a Goodrich spokesman, said the parties responsible for the contamination should clean it up and that if the proper procedures had been followed in 1987, the perchlorate would have been discovered years earlier. By not pursuing Thompson at the state hearings, Rialto and the Santa Ana board staff are failing to go after one of the responsible parties, Goodrich claims.

"We're very disappointed in this matter, where only select responsible parties and very key facts are being ignored," Palmer said.

Carrigan and Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer of the Santa Ana water board, both said their agencies have done nothing wrong and that Thompson might still be pursued in the future.

Thompson hasn't been a focus of the cleanup investigations thus far because he did not discharge perchlorate into the ground; he merely bought property from a party that did, said Scott Sommer, Rialto's lead attorney in the perchlorate matters. So far, the state regulatory agencies have focused on pursuing the parties suspected of actually discharging perchlorate. Any perchlorate he did spread by operating on the site was spread unknowingly because the perchlorate hadn't even been discovered there yet, Sommer said.

Carrigan said it's not even clear what Goodrich wants the city to do and that the suit is just another attempt to outspend state agencies and Rialto by using clever legal tactics.

At last count, Rialto has spent about $15 million on its efforts to investigate the perchlorate and take legal action. As that number has risen, dissatisfaction with the city's legal strategy has mounted.

The three parties being pursued in the state hearings have been criticized for using a number of aggressive legal strategies. One of the environmental groups involved in the hearings, the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, dropped out after being overwhelmed by how difficult the process had become.

In a letter to one of Goodrich's lawyers, Jeffrey Dintzer, the executive officer of the Santa Ana board, Gerard Thibeault, said the parties' legal efforts cost the state $954,000 and 9,430 hours in staff and attorney time in the 2006-07 fiscal year, and the costs are still growing.

At a Rialto City Council meeting on Wednesday, a woman - who identified herself as Donna Worley and claimed to be a concerned citizen - caused quite a stir when she went before the council to complain about the same matters contained in the Goodrich lawsuit. Earlier, she had provided The Sun with information about Thompson, in a letter calling the situation "just another case of the city helping the rich." At the meeting, she mentioned a potential recall of members of the council, prompting a vigorous response from the dais, especially from Councilman Ed Scott, who noted she lives in Burbank and accused her of working for Goodrich.

In the other matter regarding potential court action in Los Angeles, on Tuesday, James Meeder, an attorney for Emhart, wrote a letter on behalf of all three companies saying that if the hearing officer of the state proceedings did not disqualify the state board and the regional board from the process, he would go to court to ask for a stay in the hearings.

The companies claim the Santa Ana board's staff and the state board have taken part in improper communications or are biased against them because the state board handed out grants to local agencies to treat perchlorate. They have also claimed bias on the grounds that the Santa Ana board's staff erred in its handling of the closing of the McLaughlin Pit and is itself therefore partially responsible. Palmer also said the state board has no right to try the matter at this point.

Hearing officer Tam Doduc ruled Saturday against the companies.

"I think their disqualification argument lacks merit, and it would be sad if the proceedings are stayed," Carrigan said.

Berchtold said allegations of bias or that the Santa Ana board tried to cover up its own actions are "just not the case."

If all else fails, a federal trial on the contamination is tentatively scheduled for October 2008.

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BS Ranch Perspective

After reading this it seems that The City of Rialto, and The City Council is being Treated as I was treated when it came to my workers compensation case, It took me 10 years to settle my case, and it was only settled because my lawyer made an offer to settle out of court, well Rialto accepted that offer and that was the only reason that my case was well handled. I even Died On Duty, in a Motorcycle Accident. But that didn't matter.

This case will not be settled and all of the J&K Utility Tax money is going to the lawyer, Owen's so that he can take this case to Court. I don't think that this will go very far in October 88 either...

BS Ranch

IT's Time For Rialto to Call in the E.P.A.!!! A.S.A.P.!!

It's time for Rialto to call in the EPA
Article Launched:07/16/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

When is enough enough? When should Rialto throw in the towel and call in the big dogs?
The city has been fighting for a decade to get suspected polluters, including major corporations and the Pentagon, to pay the costs of cleaning up perchlorate that has contaminated Rialto's wells. But the lawsuits and extended legal battle have cost more than $18 million so far and could go much higher.
And while Rialto's city attorney seems content to play David to the suspected polluters' Goliath - albeit, with the help of a cadre of top-level lawyers - it's chiefly customers of the city's water utility that have had to bear the burden, and the brunt of the costs, with no quick end in sight. So far, the city has spent the equivalent of its Police Department's budget on the fight.
The city's water agency serves about half of Rialto, with Fontana Water Co. and West Valley Water serving the rest. And so, it is about half of Rialto residents who are footing the bill for the city's legal juggernaut. The surcharge on water bills starts at $6.85 a month and rises from there.
If Rialto eventually wins its case in court, resident ratepayers will be reimbursed. But that could be a long time in coming. And the total for actual cleanup of the contaminant could be $300 million.
Besides ratepayers' hefty chunk, the City Council also contributed $5 million from general fund reserves to escalate the fight last year. But even the council has become leery, without seeing much in the way of results.
Why won't Rialto call in the cavalry and ask the feds for help? We're sure city ratepayers would like to know.
Why is it that the city has insisted on going it alone, without bringing the resources of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to bear?
Commenting on Rialto's reluctance to do the logical thing, Penny Newman, executive director of the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, said, "I think going with EPA and the Superfund program is probably the strongest mechanism a city or community has. I'm always amazed that people - communities - shy away from that."
Indeed, Rialto has become almost territorial in pursuing the fight on its own. It's almost as if time and money were no object. Let the ratepayers pay it - that seems to be the city's attitude.
But with the pricetag reaching into the millions, it's time to regroup. The city needs to take a more regional approach and spread out the costs.
Rialto initially considered going with EPA. But after looking at a variety of Superfund projects, and finding that each took 17 to 27 years to start cleanup, the city felt it would take too long, said City Attorney Bob Owen.
So, this is any better? How long does the city expect ratepayers to keep fronting litigation costs?
The state Water Resources Control Board, which has taken over from the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, plans hearings in August. At that time, it could order three suspected polluters - Goodrich, Pyro Spectaculars and Emhart Industries, parent company of Black and Decker - to remove the contamination.
Then again, those companies all have been fighting long and hard to delay any consequences.
The San Gabriel Valley Water Co., which owns Fontana Water Co., and the West Valley Water District have urged Rialto go with a regional coalition that works with the EPA.
Rialto has been fighting for cleanup of the Rialto-Colton Basin, without regard for pollution of West Valley and Fontana wells.
And while a fault separates the West Valley and Fontana wells from the Rialto-Colton Basin, such that the regional agency has said it can't prove the suspected Rialto-area polluters caused contamination of the other wells, it's all the more reason for a regional approach that takes all of the pollution into account.
Yet Rialto persists in its one-sided struggle.
Better to lean on the EPA - and save residents the aggravation.


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BS Ranch Perspective

I am wondering why, the County of San Bernardino is not mentioned in this fight for the water rights and the fight for the water, and the monies to pay for the filtration to clean out the Perchlorate from the filters. I did a vast Search across the State and found that there was over 200 Wells in California that was effected by Perchlorate, many wells had to be shut down and some had to be filtered with the Revers Osmosis Filtration system, Each filter, I am talking about one filter, costs $4 Million Dollars, and they are very expensive. Rialto needed to have many of these Expensive Filteration systems on their system to clean the water and make it safe from Perchlorate!

But The question that Remains is What or who paid for the cleaning of those other 190 wells in the State of California tha that I could not find any news on? Who paid for the Filtration systems, and why didn't I find any other City's or Counties taking the Privious Owners of the Businesses to court that was responsible for placing the Perchlorate in the Water Table in the first place? I guess I can tell you that one thing is for sure.

Back when they started and found out that they had Perchlorate in contamination in the water table in Rialto, Rialto's Council Immediatly said that he must start a law Suit against the Businesses that were found to be responcible for the contamnation of the Perchlorate in the Water Table. I have Written all along that this was a bad Move since the Companies all have said that they were going to pay for the filters and clean up what they could of the Perchlorate from the Water Table, but Owen said that even with the Company spoksman saying that they were going to pay for their clean up.

I beleive that Owens, with all the extra pay that he received from the city should be held responcible for paying for the clean up of the water table, and the Perchlorate! They cannot beleive that Owen's did this law suit for the City of Rialto's Benefit, because Clearly it was not for the City of Rialto's Benefit, since it didn't benefit the City of Rialto!

Rialto Lost in this whole thing, Clearly since Owen's Continued his Pursuit of the Law Suit against the Businesses that admitted to being responsible for the Perchlorate Contamination of the Water Table, Dating back to World War One, and Clearly they were not the owners of those businesses then, they were the purchaser's of the businesses, so they got the businesses, and with that they inherited the responciblity of the Wrong Doings of those companies form a long time ago. When Owen's Representing the City of Rialto Took the Responcible Businesses to Court they decided to pay for only the stuff that they were told topay for, that left a huge amount that was left unpaid and The City of Rialto's Water Department was left with these Bills for the Remaining Clean up.

You Clearly Cannot Blame the Businesses, but the Lawyer's that Represented the Law Suit that started it!!

THE LAW SUIT IS TO BLAIM FOR THE LIMITED CLEAN UP OF IT!! NOT THE BUSINESSES HERE! THE LAWYERS ARE TO BLAME!

When I say lawyer I mean the one that started the whole Law Suit, OWEN!

The City of Rialto, and The Rialto City Council should fire their council, Owen, simply has to go, he has been there long enough and has made his milliions off the city, and if left in the City Representation Positon, he will make himself a millionare over and over and over again. With Law Suits, JUST LIKE THE ONE THAT THEY JUST LOST!! 10 FOLD W/PERCHLORATE!!

BS Ranch

$18 Million Down The Drain? (SB Sun July 9, 2007) With NO Results yet, City's Perchlorate Strategy Questioned!!

BS Ranch Perspective The strategy that the city is taking should be questioned? The City of Rialto is trying to take this on and get it all for FREE!! The City of Rialto wants the business that has been found to be responsible for the contamination of the Perchlorate, However in many cases they are not the original company that are responsible, since they purchased the company that caused the contamination long ago during The First World War! It has long been my thought that Owen has wanted a case like this that he could charge the city an almost open Check Book of charges for Lawyer Fees, It is not surprising that it is up to $18 Million, I just wonder how much of the $18 Million has entered the bank accounts of Owen's Private home account!! He after all knows that the city of Rialto has to be getting tired of the over paid fees that they pay him, after all to pay a Layer almost $734, 000.00 a year just to be present in most City Council Meetings is just a little bit much. Now Rialto gets this Perchlorate Contamination in their Drinking water, and come to find out that there are many Southern California Cities that also had Perchlorate Contamination in their Drinking Water Wells within their City Limits!! Rialto Spends 18 Million in Legal Fee's to clean up the Perchlorate, and gets no where!! All the other Cities in Southern California Clean their Perchlorate Problem, with the help of the "EPA" and spend a total of about $1 Million, with all their filters needed and the water is all paid for and everything is clean!! What does Rialto Have that is different then these other cities that seem to be able to get things done at about $17 Million cheaper and counting, that difference is a Lawyer by the name of Owen. Rialto City Council needs to wake up and get rid of this guy and try to clean up his mistake in this "Lawsuit"! BS Ranch $18 million down the drain?

With no results yet, city's perchlorate strategy questioned

Jason Pesick, Staff Writer San Bernardino County Sun

Article Launched:07/09/2007 12:00:00 AM PDT

RIALTO - City officials see their fight to clean up perchlorate-contaminated drinking water as a classic underdog story - a modest city going to court to get big corporations and the Pentagon to clean up a mess. To City Attorney Bob Owen, it's like David and Goliath, with Rialto as David of course. It might take more than a slingshot to do the job, though. It might take $300 million to clean up contamination discovered in 1997. Thus Rialto has armed itself with a team of top-tier lawyers to pursue lawsuits against suspected polluters. City leaders say they're on a righteous quest, but some water-cleanup experts and others who have dealt with similar challenges call it folly. Taking on the likes of the Defense Department, Goodrich, and Black and Decker during the past decade has already cost the city the equivalent of the Police Department's annual budget. Critics want to know what that money has bought beyond constant delays in court and before state regulatory boards. They also want to know why the city didn't seek the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as other communities with similar problems have. "It's just beyond imagination how much money they've spent on this thing," said Anthony "Butch" Araiza, general manager of the West Valley Water District, which also serves water to Rialto residents. Owen said the city has spent about $18 million on lawsuits, legal investigators, water treatment, public relations and community meetings. It sounds good to say the city shouldn't spend so much on attorneys, Owen said, but the city would have to pay much more to clean up the mess. "Everybody hates lawyers," he said. "We know that." Residents foot the bill Rialto's legal battle is funded largely by a surcharge for customers of the city's water utility. The surcharge starts at $6.85 a month and rises based on usage. The city water agency serves about half of Rialto, meaning about half the residents fund the formidable perchlorate effort. West Valley Water and the Fontana Water Company serve the rest. If Rialto wins its case in court, residents will be reimbursed, Owen said. The council also has allocated $5 million from General Fund reserves to escalate the legal effort last year. Rialto's best hope at getting perchlorate cleaned up quickly is the State Water Resources Control Board, which has planned August hearings on the contamination. The board could order three suspected polluters, Goodrich, Pyro Spectaculars and Emhart Industries, which the city says is really Black and Decker, to remove the contamination. "There's been a wealth of evidence that's been generated as a result of Rialto's litigation," said Kurt Berchtold, assistant executive officer for the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board and member of the advocacy team that will argue alongside Rialto during the state hearings. But the companies' legal maneuvers have delayed those hearings numerous times. The state water board took over cleanup efforts because the Santa Ana board couldn't move forward. "It's gone from bad to worse to untenable," said Michael Whitehead, president of the San Gabriel Valley Water Company, which owns Fontana Water. Whitehead and Araiza have publicly talked about the benefits of bringing in the EPA to take over the cleanup. The hearing delays have upset environmentalists as well. "The corporations know how to use the legal system," said Penny Newman, executive director of the Riverside- based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice, which will be a party in state hearings. She defended the city's strategy and the amount of money it has spent. "When you've been harmed, you go after the person who harmed you, which can be difficult for people of limited income," she said. The idea is simple: Polluters should clean up their messes. "Is it an Erin Brockovich scenario? You bet," Rialto City Administrator Henry Garcia said at a council meeting. But "Erin Brockovich" is the wrong movie to emulate because the contamination is too complicated, Whitehead countered. He suggested watching "A Civil Action," in which the EPA takes over because the case costs too much money to put on in court. "It's a very conventional legal strategy. It's also a failed legal strategy," Whitehead said. He and Araiza recommend using the model the San Gabriel Valley used to clean up contaminants including perchlorate: a regional coalition of entities working with the EPA. Comparing situations To remove perchlorate discovered in 1997 from Baldwin Park, Whitehead said the San Gabriel Valley Water Company spent less than $1 million on legal fees. Polluters and the U.S. government paid most of the cost. Wayne Praskins, an EPA Superfund project manager, said that if a polluter refuses to follow an EPA cleanup order but is found responsible in court, the polluter faces penalties of three times the cleanup cost. "I think going with EPA and the Superfund program is probably the strongest mechanism a city or community has I'm always amazed that people - communities - shy away from that," Newman said. But the EPA doesn't have super powers. The San Gabriel Valley was already a Superfund site as early as the mid-1980s, which made it easier and faster to get perchlorate cleaned up. "It's a tough comparison," Praskins said. "It took a long time to reach agreements in the San Gabriel Valley." To Owen, the city attorney, comparing the Rialto-Colton Basin cleanup to that of the San Gabriel Valley is like comparing apples to oranges. The EPA started looking at contamination in the San Gabriel Valley in the 1970s. When it was looking at whether to go the EPA route, Rialto looked at a number of Superfund sites, and in every case it took between 17 and 27 years to start cleaning the contamination up, Owen said. "And that was simply unacceptable to us." The EPA has followed the case but hasn't yet decided whether to take over, Praskins said. A combination of factors kept the EPA from taking the lead from the get-go. Rialto thought the EPA would take too long. Owen has also said he was afraid a large Superfund site in the city would create a stigma. EPA officials also thought state regulatory agencies could handle the case. Berchtold speculated that Whitehead and Araiza might be pressing for an EPA takeover because the state would probably not order cleanup of some West Valley and Fontana wells. A fault separates those wells from the Rialto-Colton Basin, and Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board staffers said they can't prove the suspected Rialto-area polluters caused the contamination in those wells. Whitehead says the board is in over its head. Despite the fault, Araiza prefers a regional approach and said Rialto is selfish for excluding other water agencies. "I just don't understand being that territorial about this." Owen said he's just looking out for Rialto. He doesn't want to divide money equally because the problem doesn't affect all agencies equally. Rialto's City Council is getting uncomfortable with the cost. The council called for an audit of how much the city has spent on perchlorate, but members insist there will be no strategy change. The newest councilman, Joe Baca Jr., thinks there should be. "I'm concerned about there being a blank check out there for the attorneys," he said. He said he can't even find out how much the city has spent. "We have to look at it as a regional approach," he said. Owen, on the other hand, doesn't want to change course now. "This city's involved in possibly its largest legal battle ever in its history," he said. "Now is not the time to blink." What is perchlorate? Perchlorate is used to produce such explosives as fireworks and rocket fuel. It flows from industrial sites on Rialto's north end through the city and into Colton. It's not clear how dangerous perchlorate is, but a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last year says even low concentrations of perchlorate can affect the thyroid gland. Treatment systems remove perchlorate from the water before it reaches residents.

Rialto Takes Perchlorate Stand (San Bernardino Sun July 28, 2007).

BS Ranch Perspective

I figure that the Law Suite route that they took forced the hand that they have to pay some of the cost, so in order to get away from that now they must go after the Government to get the money needed in order to get the water filters that are needed to clean that perchlorate out of the water and away from the Water Drinking Public!!

I guess, they will be having to shake the hands of the Government to get this done now, since Owen's Idea of a Law Suit has Failed!!

BS Ranch

Rialto takes perchlorate stand

Article Launched:07/28/2007 09:59:16 PM PDT

According to the most recent Study by the Center for Disease Control, perchlorate in drinking water, even at low doses, is a threat to the thyroid function of many of U.S. women, and to brain and nervous system development in children. By 2002, it had become apparent that a 6-mile-long plume of perchlorate, a key ingredient of rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene (TCE), a hazardous solvent phased out of industrial use by the 1980s, contaminates the otherwise pure groundwater aquifer that supplies drinking water for the city of Rialto and the Rialto Utility Authority. The source is a World War II ordinance depot later used for manufacturing by large defense contractors and fireworks manufacturers. The contamination comes from land now used by San Bernardino County for its Mid-Valley Sanitary Landfill, to the west, and a 160-acre site to the east occupied by Goodrich Corporation, Emhart (Black & Decker), Pyro Spectaculars and other manufacturers. In response, the Rialto City Council adopted a policy of shutting down contaminated wells to avoid serving perchlorate in any amount to its citizens. Initially, perchlorate concentrations were detected in the dozens to several hundred parts per billion (ppb). Additional investigation and testing found perchlorate as high as 5,000-10,000 ppb, the highest level in the nation in a domestic water supply. The state of California action level is 6 ppb. Protecting citizens' health is paramount, but the potential effects on business, development and the city's finances are also dire. Installing wellhead treatment costs millions, and operational costs add millions more. With the new 210 Freeway, parts of the city are poised for increased development and employment. But if the city cannot assure a 20-year supply of water, state law prohibits local development. Projected costs for the cleanup run as high as $200 million to $300 million. Initially, Rialto turned to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the California Regional Water Quality Control Board - Santa Ana Region (RWQCB) for assistance. EPA undertook some studies and issued investigation orders to some of the dischargers. At the time, the Bush administration, under pressure from major defense contractors that had used perchlorate nationally and the Pentagon, resisted adoption of a federal cleanup standard or rigid enforcement by the EPA. EPA took no further action, and deferred to the state of California. The first prosecution effort by the RWQCB ended in a dismissal for lack of evidence. In 2003, Rialto turned to San Bernardino County and asked it to take steps to control the perchlorate from its Mid-Valley Landfill. Through then-supervisor Jerry Eaves, the county declined to offer Rialto any help and denied the extent of the contamination later confirmed by more testing. Faced with ineffective action from EPA and the regional board, a rejection of liability from the county, and some expiring statutes of limitation, Rialto brought suit in federal court in 2004 to make the large corporate polluters and insurance companies - rather than its own citizens - pay for the cleanup. Through investigation of activities as far back as the 1940s, and under federal discovery authority, a mass of evidence was collected and delivered to the RWQCB and EPA. Using some of this evidence, Rialto was successful in November 2005 in obtaining a Clean-up and Abatement Order from the RWQCB that requires the county to clean up the perchlorate emanating from the landfill. By late 2006, the RWQCB began a further prosecution of Goodrich, Emhart/Black & Decker and Pyro Spectaculars, supported in substantial part by the evidence from the federal litigation. Rialto's strategy is straightforward: use the federal litigation to supply evidence to EPA and the regional board with the objective of obtaining orders for cleanup of the basin. California law requires such a lawsuit to invoke the decades of insurance coverage of many of the dischargers, some of whom otherwise lack funding. Rialto's objective has always been to play a supporting role to federal and state agencies to obtain the orders for prompt cleanup. That strategy has worked as to the county and its landfill. The current State Water Board prosecution, which goes to hearing in Rialto Aug. 21-30, will hopefully result in a cleanup order on the eastern part of the plume as well. Rialto will participate and assist the RWQCB in presenting important evidence. If that hearing, which has been delayed four times by the large, well-funded law firms representing the dischargers, is not successful, Rialto has as a backup its federal lawsuit, which should go to trial in late 2008. Either way, Rialto is committed to making the large corporate polluters and insurance companies pay for the cleanup. The same federal litigation has been filed by the city of Colton, West Valley Water District and the private supplier Fontana Water Company. Right now, Rialto and Colton are doing the work in the litigation. The same water purveyors, and the county - both singly and jointly - have applied for federal and state cleanup money for years with only limited success. Rialto is following a dual approach of assisting the administrative agencies and using the federal litigation as a backup. We request this newspaper and all affected citizens to support the current State Water Board prosecution in Rialto Aug. 21-30. The state Legislature should be encouraged to supply funding for prosecution of the dischargers and to assist with the cleanup. EPA should likewise be more actively involved, and take further action on the evidence that has been supplied to it. The health and welfare of Rialto's citizens, and its women and children in particular, deserve nothing less. - Winnie Hanson, Rialto's mayor pro tem, and Ed Scott, council member, comprise the Rialto Perchlorate Subcommittee.