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PG&E Hinkley Chromium Cleanup
Hinkley Compressor Station Chromium Contamination Cleanup
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Overview
PG&E’s Compressor Station is located approximately two miles southeast of the town of Hinkley and a dozen miles west of Barstow in the Mojave Desert of San Bernardino County. Between 1952 and 1966, PG&E used hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, to fight corrosion in cooling tower water. The wastewater from the cooling towers was discharged to unlined ponds at the site. Some of the wastewater percolated to the groundwater, resulting in hexavalent chromium pollution. The chromium affects an area of groundwater approximately two miles long and nearly a mile wide.
Recent chromium plume migration to the northeast of the Desert View Dairy has been detected. This plume migration violates a Cleanup and Abatement Order requirement to maintain control of the plume. At the July 14, 2010 Board meeting, the Water Board adopted an amendment to the Desert View Dairy land treatment unit permit to allow additional groundwater extraction on two properties adjacent to the Desert View Dairy to the north and east to address the expanded plume in that area.
The Third Quarter 2011 Monitoring Report shows that chromium has been detected in groundwater in the north, out to at least Sonoma Street. In addition, new monitoring well data also shows the chromium plume being undefined to the east, west, and south of the Compressor Station. PG&E has been directed to continue expanding the monitoring well network to determine the extent of the chromium plume above maximum background levels of 3.1 ppb hexavalent chromium and 3.2 ppb total chromium.
PG&E is under orders from the Lahontan Water Board to stop plume expansion and clean up the chromium plume. Below are certain documents related to some of those activities. All documents associated with the project are available at the Barstow Public Library and at the Lahontan Water Board office in Victorville. Documents may be reviewed during regular business hours.
Announcements
Presentations and Handouts from December 8, 2011 Water Board Public Meeting in Hinkley
- Cleanup Status and Whole House Water Order Presentation
- Background Study Peer Review Summary Presentation
- Environmental Impact Report Update Presentation
- EIR timeline handout
- Project Update Fact Sheet (English)
- Project Update Fact Sheet (Spanish)
- PG&E_Resp_to_Inv_Order_2011-0104_1-5-12.pdf
- The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment has released a Final Public Health Goal for hexavalent chromium.
Water Board Orders
Investigative Orders
- Investigative Order No R6V-2012-0007, Requiring PG&E to install additional monitoring wells, dated January 20, 2012
- Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0105, Requiring PG&E to provide information on laboratory quality control data, dated December 29, 2011
- Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0104, Requiring PG&E to provide information regarding domestic wells, dated December 15, 2011
- Investigative Order R6V-2011-0079, Requiring Additional Information in Groundwater Monitoring Reports, dated September 29, 2011
- Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0078, dated September 23, 2011
- Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0054, Requiring PG&E to submit quarterly reports on plume stability, dated July 29, 2011
- Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0053, Requiring PG&E to Request for Revised Manganese Mitigation Plan, dated July 29, 2011
- Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0052, Requiring PG&E to Provide Additional Information Regarding Subsurface Conditions Near Well 34-65, dated July 28, 2011
- Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0051, Requiring PG&E to Provide Information on Compliance Status Towards Plume Capture, dated July 28, 2011
- Investigative Order No. R6V-2011-0043, Acceptance of Work Plans for Upper and Lower Aquifer Plume Investigations, June 3, 2011, dated June 3, 2011
- Investigative Order No. RB6V-2010-0055 to Delineate Chromium Contamination in the Lower Aquifer, dated November 8, 2010
- Investigative Order No. R6V-2010-0038 to Conduct Additional Groundwater Investigation to the East and North, dated August 11, 2010
Cleanup Orders
- New! Request for Public Comments on PG&E's Petition of CAO for Whole House Replacement Water, dated January 20, 2012
- Water Board Staff comments on PG&E whole house water treatment systems proposal, dated December 16, 2011
- Adopted Cleanup and Abatement Order Requiring Whole House Replacement Water, PG&E, Hinkley Compressor Station, San Bernardino County
- Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2011-0005 - PG&E to provide Interim Replacement Water, dated January 7, 2011
- Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2008-0002 - August 6, 2008
Discharge Permits
- R6V-2004-0034 (Adopted July 27, 2004) - New Waste Discharge Requirements for the PG&E Company Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project, San Bernardino Co.
- R6V-2004-0034A1 (Adopted November 28, 2007) - Amended Waste Discharge Requirements for PG&E, Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project and Monitoring and Reporting Program, San Bernardino Co.
- R6V-2004-0034A2 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Amended Waste Discharge Requirements for PG&E, Desert View Dairy Revised Optimization Project, San Bernardino Co.
- R6V-2004-0034A2 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Amended Monitoring and Reporting Program for PG&E, Interim Plume Containment and Hexavalent Chromium Treatment Project, San Bernardino Co.
- R6V-2010-0032 (Adopted July 14, 2010) - Resolution Adopting an Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declarations for PG&E Desert View Dairy Revised Optimization Project, San Bernardino Co.
- Notice of Applicability for Combining Three In-Situ Projects - July 7, 2010
- Notice of Applicability for Ethanol Use at Source Area In-Situ Remediation Project - August 17, 2009
- Notice of Applicability for General Site-Wide Remediation Project - April 7, 2009
- General Waste Discharge Requirements R6V-2008-0014
Other Documents
- PG&E’s response to March 9, 2011 Water Board meeting
- Water Board staff memo to Water Board Members concerning the Board's authority to require replacement drinking water
Chromium Background Study
- Information on the Scientific Peer Review of PG&E's 2007 Chromium Background Study Results
- Frequently Asked Questions about PG&E's Background Chromium Study in Hinkley
- Staff Report, Background Chromium Study, PG&E Hinkley,
PG&E Feasibility Study
- New! Addendum #3 of Feasibility Study-Sept. 15, 2011
- PG&E's Proposed Chromium Cleanup Plan (the Feasibility Study) and Water Board comments
- PG&E’s Addendum #2 Feasibility Study - March 3, 2011
- Investigative Order No R6V-2011-0047 requiring PG&E to submit information to address Agency comments on the Feasibility Study - July 13, 2011
Map of Chromium Plume
- 4th Quarter 2011 Print Version of Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" x 11" size, prints on two sheets)
- 4th Quarter 2011 Upper Aquifer Plume Map (11" x 17" size)
- 3rd Quarter 2011 Print Version of Upper Aquifer Plume Map (8.5" X 11" size, prints on two sheets)
- 3rd Quarter 2011 Upper Aquifer Plume Map
- 2nd Quarter Print Versions of plume maps (8.5" x 11" size)
- Maximum chromium concentrations in shallow upper aquifer
- Most recent chromium concentrations in shallow upper aquifer
- Maximum chromium concentrations in deep upper aquifer
- Maximum chromium concentrations in upper aquifer, northwest plume area
- Most recent chromium concentrations in upper aquifer, northwest plume area
- 2nd Quarter - 2011 | First Quarter - 2011
- November 2010
8.5" x 11" print version of November 2010 plume map (this map is split into 2 sections for printing on standard letter-size paper) - August 2010
(This is the first time the 3.1 ppb chromium concentration boundary is shown. It was previously mapped to the 4.0 ppb concentration line.
Questions or Comments about the Hinkley Project?
- Please email Lisa Dernbach or phone 530 542-5424.