OVERSEEING THE OVERSEERS It will cost up to $91,000 to secure the professional services of KOMEX H2O Science, Inc. to further advise the Charnock Engineering Committee (CEC) to build a new water treatment facility at the city-owned Charnock well field, which was found to be contaminated with MTBE in 1996. All five of the wells were shut down that same year as a result of the contamination CEC was born out of a 2003 legal settlement between City Hall and more than a dozen oil companies to improve and operate a water treatment facility to remove MTBE from the Charnock wells. MTBE, a fuel additive that makes gasoline burn cleaner, has been classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a possible human carcinogen. Since 1996, KOMEX has worked with City Hall and CEC to ameliorate the MTBE problem in the city’s water supply.
The extension of KOMEX’s contract would mean extending its involvement in supporting design, construction and operation of the water treatment facility. Funds are available from the 2003 MTBE settlement agreement.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 12, 2005. Read the original PDF.