Central Coast Water Board, San Luis Obispo County, and CAL FIRE enter into Agreement to Address Pollution from San Luis Obispo Airport
On July 21, 2023, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (Central Coast Water Board) ratified a Voluntary Cleanup and Abatement Agreement with San Luis Obispo County (County) and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) contamination from the use of fire-fighting foam during training activities and operations at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport. The Central Coast Water Board considered written comments received prior to the ratification meeting and oral comments received during the meeting.
The agreement represents an expedited and collaborative approach to address pollution from PFAS and sets forth cleanup and water replacement requirements in lieu of a cleanup and abatement order. Per its terms, CAL FIRE and the County agree to evaluation, groundwater monitoring, and remediation activities in two phases and commit to providing point-of-use treatment within 30 days for affected well users that currently do not have any treatment and providing point-of-entry treatment for affected well users within one year. They also agree to work with partners to evaluate long-term safe drinking water solutions for the affected community and, should no regional solutions prove feasible (e.g., new community system or consolidation with existing adjacent community water system), to installing well-head treatment on all supply wells impacted by airport-related PFAS within four years. Additionally, CAL FIRE and the County agree to develop and implement a Public Participation Plan to ensure effective community outreach and engagement.
A copy of Central Coast Water Board Resolution No. R3-2023-0046 ratifying the Voluntary Cleanup and Abatement Agreement is available at:
https://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralcoast/board_decisions/adopted_orders/2023/r3-2023-0046.pdf
During the agreement ratification meeting, the Central Coast Water Board directed staff and the airport parties (County and CAL FIRE) to include additional paragraphs in the resolution regarding the consideration of reimbursement of treatment system costs incurred by affected households, the implementation of a community advisory committee as part of the Public Participation Plan, and a community health survey.
A copy of the Voluntary Cleanup and Abatement Agreement ratified by the Central Coast Water Board is available for download:
https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/?surl=drlic
Detailed information about the PFAS investigation and remediation activities at the San Luis Obispo County Regional Airport, is available at:
https://geotracker.waterboards.ca.gov/profile_report?global_id=T10000012768
If you have questions regarding the announcement, please contact Dean Thomas via email at dean.thomas@waterboards.ca.gov or phone (805) 549-3690.
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