An anonymous tipster contacted the Sun on Jan. 8 about a muddy discharge entering San Miguelito Creek south of Miguelito Park outside of Lompoc.
Turns out, the anonymous caller was correct, but the leak had already been reported to the proper authorities. Muddying San Miguelito Creek was a leak that originated at the Imerys plant one mile south of Lompoc. It’s a diatomaceous earth mining and processing facility that uses what it mines to make filters, paint additives, and a product that enhances industrial plastic wrap.
Harvey Packard, an enforcement coordinator with the Central Coast Water Quality Control Board, said the leak was a mixture of diatomaceous earth and water caused by a couple of pumps that failed and a holding pond that overflowed. He said the leak was reported on Jan. 6, and Imerys fixed the problems causing the leaks by Jan. 8.
Packard said, based on what he’s heard from the company, the leak started with a broken pump that caused the holding pond—which was supposed to help contain the flow of diatomaceous earth and water caused by a situation like a broken pump, but couldn’t because it was already full—to overflow. That was the first leak.
“And then, somehow, another pump failed and it overflowed, so there were two spills,” Packard said.
Although Imerys does hold a storm-water-discharge permit for San Miguelito Creek with the Central Coast Water Quality Control Board, it’s solely for clean storm water. Packard said an investigation into what happened hasn’t been completed yet. The organization is working with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to figure out exactly what harm was done to the environment, what laws were violated, and what follow-up actions need to happen.
The Sun reached out the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Imerys, but didn’t hear back from either of them as of press time. The spill didn’t contain anything that would be toxic to creek inhabitants, but it does change the creek’s environment.
“It’s not what you would call a hazardous material, but it does cause turbidity,” Packard said. “Fish don’t like muddy water, and … these small microbiological communities don’t like cloudy water either.”
He said the discharge layered a fine silt of diatomaceous earth on the bottom of the creek bed.
“It’s not clear at this point whether a cleanup is possible,” Packard said.
This article appears in Jan 16-23, 2014.
