MARYVALE HAS YET ANOTHER TOXIC GROUNDWATER PLUME, ARIZONA REGULATORS FOUND. UNDREDS OF FEET BENEATH A RESIDENTIAL neighborhood in Maryvale, toxic chemicals have been leaching into the groundwater. Arizona’s top environmental regulator deemed this square-mile site a major contamina- tion site last fall. It’s the latest in Maricopa County to be added to the state’s Water Quality Assurance Revolving Fund list, which catalogs environmental investigations and cleanups. Groundwater contamination has plagued communities across Arizona for decades, hindering the use of precious aquifers. Over the years, some cleanup efforts have been more successful than others. But it’s becoming more critical than ever for the state to have a strategy to transform polluted groundwater into potable drinking water at best and safe irrigation water at worst as the state’s population and water demands continue to swell. This new site is a reminder of the challenge. The plume of several industrial solvents is bounded by Indian School Road to the south and Camelback Road to the north, between 45th and 57th avenues. Environmental investigators are still determining the extent of the contamination. So far, they don’t believe that anyone is drinking the tainted water. Neighborhoods in the area are largely working-class. The lack of community resources could pose a challenge to rallying residents around a lengthy cleanup effort, said William Owens, a Maryvale resident who sits on the community board overseeing the cleanup. “We all go to work, we all come home,” he said. “Some of the guys that work in this neigh- borhood are out in the sun all day long.” Tom Carlson “Most of the neighbors, if it doesn’t come out of the faucet, they’re not going to care,” he said. The West Valley in particular has a long history of environmental contamination. In the 1950s and ’60s, industries began to replace farmland in West Phoenix. Aerospace manufacturers and semicon- ductor factories such as United Industrial set up shop, turning the area into a booming industrial zone. Though many have now shuttered, they left behind a legacy of pollution. The latest toxic plume to be discovered, however, is an orphan site. State investigators have not yet identified its source. The cleanup could cost millions. Motorola’s two flagship factories in east Phoenix released toxins such as cleaning solvents, acids, and cyanides into the city over decades. The company spent more than $30 million on remediation efforts. As such, environmental activists are watching the state’s response to the new site closely. During a sparsely attended community meeting recently, ADEQ officials gave an overview of the site and their plans for remedia- tion, which will likely take years. Gianna Trujillo, the project manager, called the contamination “pretty extensive.” That meant a lengthy cleanup, she said. The contamination has so far only been discov- ered in groundwater 200 feet beneath the surface. When toxins disperse through a large area of an aquifer, as food coloring would disperse through a glass of water, it is referred to as a “plume.” ADEQ surveyors found high concentrations of three toxins in the water: PCE, or tetrachloro- ethene, TCE, or trichloroethylene, and 1,1-DCE, 1,1-dichloroethylene. In some parts of the site, investigators found levels of TCE and PCE at 1,440 micrograms per liter and 1,730 micrograms per liter, respectively. That’s hundreds of times greater than the state’s water quality benchmarks, which >> p 14 13 phoenixnewtimes.com | CONTENTS | FEEDBACK | OPINION | NEWS | FEATURE | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | FILM | CAFE | MUSIC | PHOENIX NEW TIMES MARCH 3RD– MARCH 9TH, 2022
