Potentially toxic lithium-ion batteries pried from burned-out electric vehicles in the Eaton fire and transported to a temporary hazardous waste collection site in Azusa for processing has raised concerns about toxic metals leaching into nearby sources of drinking water.
The Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, an agency responsible for the safety of groundwater supplies for nearly 2 million Los Angeles County residents, sounded an alarm recently over the crushing of these batteries on a dirt bank of the San Gabriel River at Lario Park, at 15701 Foothill Blvd.
RELATED: Moss Landing battery fire: Unusually high concentrations of toxic metals found in wetlands near plant
Lithium-ion batteries can release toxic metals such as lead, nickel, copper, cobalt, thallium and silver, an “ecotoxicity potential” associated with the breakdown of these compact, efficient batteries from EVs, as well as cell phones, computers and video games, according to the National Institute of Health (NIH) and other experts.
The Watermaster has requested the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in charge of the Lario hazardous waste staging site, relocate the battery-crushing activity from the Lario site or simply move the crushing activity farther from the river bank to a paved parking lot area.
The EPA has set up a hazardous materials collection site at the Altadena Golf Course. Soon, that site will be used for collection and processing of the more hazardous lithium-ion batteries, Drabek said. “Currently we are using both staging areas. Slowly as we complete our mission, we’ll aim to use the golf course more,” she said.
The San Gabriel River is a conduit for local rain water, snowmelt from the San Gabriel Mountains, and imported water from Northern California that runs down the river from pipes connected to its upper reaches. That water — billions of gallons a year — is captured into large groundwater storage spreading basins located only a few hundred yards north and south of the Lario hazardous waste site. The groundwater of the Main San Gabriel and Central basins are sources of drinking water — well water used by agencies and cities delivered to residents from the San Gabriel Valley and southeast L.A. County cities.
“Our biggest concern is the destruction of lithium-ion batteries on that site, Lario Park, which is immediately adjacent to the San Gabriel River,” said Kelly Gardner, assistant executive officer of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster in an interview on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
“Water conveys through that river,” she added. “It is our critical supply route to the San Gabriel Basin (aquifer).”
Gardner was shown pictures of the EPA’s operation at the Lario site and said the agency felt somewhat relieved when learning about the EPA’s general process and air monitoring system. However, she said the handling of lithium batteries is being done in the worst possible place and poses a long-term threat of drinking water contamination.
“They are crushing them on soil. They have put down a vinyl, rubberized paper that prevents whatever is on that from getting down into the soil,” she said. “But it can break. It can tear. They have a paved area 500 feet away. Why not move it there?
“If that barrier is damaged in any way and the materials get into the soil and becomes part of the percolation of water over time, then it can contaminate the groundwater,” Gardner added.
The EPA responded that the area is small, the size of a small room. The pad where the material is crushed is covered and air monitors around battery processing have not indicated any high levels of contaminants.
“If that happened, it would beep and we would stop operations,” said Anna Drabek, spokesperson for the EPA.
Gardner wanted to know if the recent rains washed any of the hazardous waste materials into the San Gabriel River or nearby percolation ponds.
The EPA said they were prepared for rains and that no materials flowed into the river.
Drabek said there wasn’t any concern from the rains. Both concrete railings and straw-like cylinders that absorb liquids and sediment are in place between the battery processing area and the river, Drabek said. “We did assess the area and there was no seepage from the site,” she added.
The Watermaster is figuring out where to take water samples for testing for compounds that could come from lithium-ion batteries, said Gardner. The agency is working with cities and water agencies that pump water from upper canyon water spreading areas just north of the Lario site. These include: Glendora, Azusa, California American Water Co. and Valley County Water District.
She said the agency has asked the EPA to partner with them and share the testing expense but has received no response.
It would like to perform its own soil and air sampling at the Lario site. “We’ve not been allowed onto the site to do any testing,” Gardner said.
The Watermaster former executive director, Russ Bryden, gave two presentations about the situation, one on Feb. 10 at the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments, and the other before the Duarte City Council on Feb. 11.
Gardner said the EPA left them as well as local cities in the dark about the opening of the site, saying it was expediting the cleanup so that rebuilding could start more quickly.
This set off angry protests in late January from residents, city officials and state and federal elected representatives were not notified of the hazardous waste staging site. About 600 people came to a town hall meeting organized by state Sen. Susan Rubio, D-West Covina, concerned about health and safety questions posed by the site, and frustrated in the answers they heard. They let it known with yells and catcalls, coupled with more demands for explanation.
In the end, they got an apology from the federal official running the operation for not giving local mayors a heads-up about the site.
All told, the Eaton fire, which impacted Altadena, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, destroyed more than 9,000 structures and killed at least 17 people when it tore through those cities beginning Jan. 7.
In its wake are piles upon piles of rubble, much of which is potentially hazardous: Such material includes burned-out cars, batteries, paint, cleaners and solvents, oils and pesticides. The removal of hazardous materials, set to end on Feb. 28, is the first phase. A second process undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which removes the the rest of the material free of charge (Property owners have a choice of opting in on that second process or having a private contractor do the work), has already begun.
Writer Jarret Liotta contributed to this article.
News Summary:
- Charred EV batteries from California wildfires spark concern about toxic waste contaminating drinking water – The Mercury News
- Check all news and articles from the latest Health updates.
- Please Subscribe us at Google News.