NEW CALIFORNIA LAW TO HELP WITH CONTAMINATION CLEAN-UP!

 

It is helpful to know that the State of California is taking the necessary steps to determine if there is some contamination in the Wildomar neighborhood of 61 homes called Autumnwood.  This action is long overdue and a good start to possibly resolving one isolated problem, but it may only be the tip of the proverbial iceberg for contamination problems in our communities.

For more on the State testing: http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/wildomar/wildomar-headlines/20131107-wildomar-state-te…

Historically, sparsely populated areas of Southwest Riverside County have long been used as dumping grounds for all sorts of hazardous waste.  While this dumping may in theory have been illegal, serious enforcement efforts by the County and our cities have been sadly lacking. That puts many land areas in danger of containing harmful toxins and some or much of our ground water is full of dangerous pollutants…land which the “eager beaver” developers now want to build new homes on!

Fortunately, Local Agencies such as our cities have now been empowered to order the cleanup of contaminated properties.  However, like any other tool or law, it takes a willingness on the part of people to put them to use.  All too often cities turn a blind eye to serious, long term contamination or pollution problems in their efforts to chase the almighty development dollars.

But help is on the way.  ”Gov. Brown recently signed Assembly Bill 440 into law, providing an important tool for local agencies to force the cleanup of contaminated properties within their borders. AB 440 builds upon the Polanco Redevelopment Act (Act), which allowed a redevelopment agency to clean contaminated property within its jurisdiction itself or by bringing a legal action to require the responsible parties to clean the property. The new law will go into effect January 1, 2014.”

“Additionally, AB 440 grants local agencies that clean up a contaminated property with immunity from potential liability resulting from release of hazardous materials specifically identified in an approved cleanup plan. Finally, if a local agency decides to perform the cleanup of the contaminated property itself, it may recover the cleanup costs, including attorneys’ fees, from the property owner.”

Quotes taken from
http://www.bbklaw.com/?t=40&an=25842&format=xml   Follow the link for more details.

Can we count on Wildomar to get the appropriate contamination testing done on those hills out by The Farm where they have been spraying human waste for the last 30 or 40 + years or cleanup the nitrate laden ground water at The Farm and near Cottonwood Canyon?   This is the kind of protection the City of Wildomar should be actively working on.

Now the question is will cities like Wildomar, armed with the new law, step up to the task of cleaning up the obvious contamination and pollution that exists within its borders?

I expect that will only happen if citizens or state and federal regulatory agencies insist on it.  So Wildomar residents it’s time to speak up for the safety of our community.