TOXIC GROUNDS

Groundwater beneath the Rosedale Highway refinery is saturated with toxic chemicals leaked or spilled on the property over the last 20 years, some of it pooling dangerously close to two public drinking supplies including the Kern River.

But until recently, the state agency tasked with protecting our groundwater has not formally acted to get the messes cleaned up -- no fines and no enforced deadlines.

Instead, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has relied on voluntary cleanup measures by the refinery's various owners. Over the last two years, though, the only cleanup effort under way has ground nearly to a halt. Still, the board hasn't acted.

When new contamination showed up in June, the water board did issue a formal cleanup order to the refinery's new owner, Big West of California, a subsidiary of Flying J. But prompt action has not been past practice at the water board. And the recent order does not address most of the contamination.

That may change after state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, was asked by a reporter what he thought of the situation.

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