For years, several residents near Buckley Road in San Luis Obispo have dealt with trichloroethylene (TCE) pollution in their wells.
A new investigation found that the property located at 4665 Thread Lane, which was thought to be responsible for the discharge, is not the source.
“It's just a horrible thing to be put on you, so I really feel bad for the new responsible parties because I know what they're going through and we were wrongly accused, so we had that to deal with and we had to prove our innocence,” said Jan Noll, who owns 4665 Thread Lane in San Luis Obispo.
Noll was originally listed as a TCE discharger in a 2019 Cleanup and Abatement order issued by the Central Coast Water Board.
“The information that we had at the time that the cleanup and abatement order was issued to the Noll parties in 2019 indicated that their site, which was a former machine shop, was the location of the TCE impacts,” explained Matt Keeling, Central Coast Water Board Executive Officer.
The report found that 14 wells were contaminated with high levels of TCE near Buckley Road in San Luis Obispo.
“TCE is a known human carcinogen, so it's recognized as such internationally and nationally,” Keeling said. “It has other chronic effects associated with kidney and liver damage. Short-term exposure through inhalation […] the vapors can cause dizziness, tiredness.”
According to the Central Coast Water Board, the impacted properties are located along Thread Lane, Buckley Road, Davenport Creek, Angie Lou Lane, and Mello Lane.
Julie Peterson has lived on Mello Lane for 24 years and her home is one of the properties dealing with this contaminant.
“It's very scary,” Peterson said. “You didn't drink it all the time, but you drank it, you cooked with it. We still cooked with it like boiling pasta, watering vegetables, flowers, animals.”
Noll said they complied with the order which included site investigation, filtration systems, and replacement water.
“Up to $350,000 so far,” Noll said. “The state does have what's called the SCAP [Site Cleanup Subaccount Program], and they did help us with investigative work, but we haven't received any other grant money from that point on, so pretty much on your own.”
The new order issued on Aug. 8, 2023, identified 795 Buckley Road, owned by John Coackley, as the discharger but activities at the site date back to the late 1970s.
“A geotechnical engineering firm that was testing asphalt to make sure its physical properties met standards for use on highways and airports, and so presumably they generated trichloroethylene waste that was discharged either to their septic system or to the ground, and ultimately reached groundwater,” Keeling explained.
The next steps mentioned in the order for Coakley include having a water replacement and groundwater monitoring plan in place by Oct. 9, 2023. In addition, they must submit a water investigation and site conceptual map by Nov. 7, 2023.
“Reimbursement for past costs associated with the Noll properties investigation or replacement water efforts would have to be negotiated between the new responsible parties,” Keeling added.
The order also states that “the TCE plume in the Buckley Road area is commingled with a larger groundwater plume of per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS), with concentrations locally above health advisory levels for PFAS in drinking water.”
Peterson is having to deal with both contaminants.
“What we would like is to have it filtered at the wellhead, so then all of the water that we use is filtered,” Peterson said. “Right now, it's only filtered going into the house. ”
KSBY News reached out to Coakley, but we did not get a response in time for publication.
To read the full cleanup order, click here.
