ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SETTLE LAWSUIT WITH SOCAL EDISON TO PROTECT WATERWAYS FROM TOXIC POLLUTION
Stormwater and sediment sampling at the Southern California Edison Goleta facility on March 10, 2021.
Oily sheens in the discharge at the Southern California Edison Goleta storage facility.
Source: Santa Barbara Channelkeeper
[On Monday], a coalition of environmental groups announced they reached a settlement agreement with Southern California Edison (Edison) to cleanup facilities identified as sources of toxic contaminants that flow into streams, rivers, and other waterways.
On June 8, 2020, the Ecological Rights Foundation and Santa Barbara Channelkeeper filed a lawsuit against Edison alleging that the company operated 27 facilities in its service region that served as storage and processing locations for wooden utility poles treated with the chemical pentachlorophenol but that lacked appropriate water quality protections.
Pentachlorophenol is a wood preservative used since the 1930s that contains substantial quantities of chemicals known as dioxins and furans, which are toxic to wildlife. Many countries have already banned its use because of its harmful effects on humans and the environment. Water quality monitoring results from Edison facilities demonstrated that significant quantitates of these toxic chemicals wash into environmentally sensitive waterways during storm events.
The agreement, reached on November 9, commits Edison to the implementation of a comprehensive program to prevent contaminants from escaping its facilities. Over the course of the next seven years, Edison will execute a strategy to cover all areas where treated wood is stored or processed or it will contain, filter, or treat storm runoff from its properties to meet specific water quality targets that protect the environment. Edison is bound by the agreement to conduct monitoring to demonstrate that its methods satisfactorily eliminate pollutants from running off its facilities.
Edison has also agreed to mitigate for alleged historic damages to the environment by providing $160,000 to a public-private partnership working to develop robust water quality protections for Areas of Special Biological Significance throughout the State of California.
This settlement agreement will result in environmental protections for over 60 waterways, beaches, and other natural resource areas, including the Goleta Slough State Marine Conservation Area near the City of Goleta and the University of California, Santa Barbara. The Goleta Slough is a sensitive ecological preserve that serves as wildlife habitat for numerous rare, sensitive, and endangered species.
“Pentachlorophenol and its byproducts are highly toxic in aquatic environments such as the Goleta Slough. These storage and processing facilities are hotspots for this form of pollution and the agreement will help ensure that our waterways are better protected,” said Benjamin Pitterle, Science and Policy Director for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.
For further information, please contact Christopher Sproul at Environmental Advocates (csproul@enviroadvocates.com), who served as lead counsel for Santa Barbara Channelkeeper.
6 Comments
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Nov 17, 2021 03:02 PMSome Bozo is squatting in the river bottom with their phone, down voting every comment about vagrants and the pollution they produce.
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Nov 17, 2021 12:01 PMThat's fine and dandy. But when will they address the issue of vagrants polluting our waterways day in and day out with their excrement, trash, needles and other toxic filth?
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Nov 17, 2021 10:07 AMGarbage, encampments and poo visible in the creeks at all times..ah, no big deal.
Power poles being stored on some lot somewhere...sue them!
Environment only matters if the other guy has $.
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Nov 18, 2021 10:11 AMNext time a sidewalk dookie gives you or a loved one cancer, let me know. We'll put a class action together and put a lien on a few tents and piles of trash. Case of the century.
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Nov 17, 2021 09:47 AMWow, the power company got in trouble for having power poles, the same poles it has used for nearly a century. As if our electric bills were not rising quickly enough to keep pace with inflation already.
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Nov 18, 2021 10:06 AMAbout 3 minutes on Google tells me 183 countries have banned this chemical for harming humans and wildlife in the form of cancer and organ damage. It's only used in the US to treat utility poles and railroad ties. The feds list it as a "reasonably anticipated carcinogen" which is the most darkly humorous BS government euphemism I've heard in awhile. I wonder how many lobbyists and golf trips for congress members it took to cook that one up.