San Diego Battles to Get Contaminated Ground Water Cleaned Up

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published December 4, 2008 at 6:26 AM PST

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

In the 1980s, a huge petroleum spill was discovered in an aquifer under the Mission Valley Terminal, a fuel-holding and distribution facility near Qualcomm Stadium. Though not used since the 1940s, t

Tom Fudge : San Diego, like the rest of Southern California, is facing what could become a water crisis. Water rationing, in fact, may be in the city's future. So it's curious that San Diego would ignore an underground source of water that could provide millions of gallons every day.

But the aquifer in question is located beneath a huge fuel terminal in Mission Valley, and the water there is contaminated. Although the law requires the owner of the terminal to clean up the fuel spills, it's not happened yet. And we're still wondering when the clean-up is going to occur.

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Guest

Amita Sharma , KPBS News investigative reporter.