City Strikes Settlement with Chevron Over MTBE Leak

Updated at 6:47 p.m. to include more information about the MTBE leak.

Capping three years of negotiations, the City Council has reached a deal with Chevron, which has claimed responsibility for the release of a gasoline additive into San Juan Capistrano's water supply, and has agreed to clean up the MTBE at an undisclosed cost.

Chevron "will clean up the affected area under the direction of the San Diego Regional Quality Control Board," and the city "will install and operate an enhanced filtration system," Mayor Sam Allevato said following a closed session meeting of the council.

Terms of the settlement also include a payment to the city—that amount, and other specific terms of the agreement will be confidential, Allevato said.

Following the leak—discovered in January 2008 and later tracked to the station at Del Obispo Street and Camino Capistrano—the city shut down two of its wells that feed into its groundwater-recovery plant. In November 2009, Black & Veatch estimated that not being able to operate the plant at full capacity caused the city to lose $1.45 million in revenues annually.

In a staff memo dated Sept. 7, 2009,  it was estimated that the cost to construct an MTBE treatment facility would be $1.6 million.

Allevato added Tuesday that San Juan's water continues to be safe for residents to drink.

Interested in learning about what else happened at the City Council meeting on March 15? Check out:

• IN-N-OUT DRIVE-THRU OK ON DEL OBISPO