How did the contamination get
into our water supply?
During the heyday of Aerojet's
operations, dumping into unlined pits, and even directly
into surface channels like Buffalo
Creek, was standard industrial practice.
Soluble materials dumped
on the surface rapidly percolated through
the 90 feet of cobbles in the mine tailings and then entered
underground
aquifers.
Aerojet began to respond
to regulatory concern in 1963 when it
started injecting wastes into deep, salty aquifers already
unsuitable for
drinking water. Starting in 1985, perchlorate was routed
to impermeable
concrete pads and burned rather than dumped on the ground.
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