Fullerton City Council voted on Jan. 20 to approve several grants and programs that will help the city’s water remain safe for drinking.
The Fullerton City Council approved a $4.3 million State Water Resources Control Board grant submittal, the acceptance and implementation of the Water Well 10 per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) Water Treatment Project and confirmed the California Environmental Quality Act project exemption.
Orange County Water District is financing the design and construction of the Well 10 PFAS Treatment Plant Project for the City of Fullerton under a 2020 agreement with OCWD. The grant has no fiscal impact on the city, as OCWD would use the funds to reduce project construction costs.
The project qualifies for CEQA exemption because it constructs a pipeline within public street right-of-ways and additional well reconstruction presents minimal environmental impact.
The total project cost is approximately $8.6 million, with construction costs roughly being $5.6 million. If awarded, the grant funds would go towards construction costs.
Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the State Water Resources Control Board will administer funds from the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to reduce PFAS and exposure to other contaminants.
The project is scheduled to be completed in 2028.
Additionally, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Remedial Project Manager for Orange County North Basin, Amanda Cruz, presented the updated proposed plan to contain contaminated groundwater for the North Orange County Superfund Site to the Fullerton City Council.
Due to the absence of a court reporter, public comments on the proposed plan were not allowed.
A 6.4-square-mile area of groundwater is contaminated by industrial activities beneath parts of Anaheim, Fullerton and Buena Park, according to Cruz.
“We’ve had six drinking water wells that have been shut down, which results in impacts to available drinking water,” Cruz said. “By taking this step to contain the contamination, we will prevent longer-term future actions, and hopefully prevent more wells from going down.”
Established in 1980, the Superfund Program provides the EPA with funds and authority to clean up contaminated sites and requires the parties responsible for the contamination to participate in cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-led remediation.
“For Orange County North basin, we do not anticipate using the fund, we anticipate working with the responsible parties to perform the cleanup,” Cruz said.
Cruz also assured community members that implementation of the proposed plan will not impact the city budget and will be managed through the EPA.
Identified as a Superfund site in 2020, the EPA conducted an interim remedial investigation report in June 2022 to assess the scope of contamination and associated risks, and published a feasibility study in August 2025 that examined how the EPA would address the risks in partnership with Fullerton.
Cruz presented an overview of the five proposed plan clean-up options, with the EPA recommending Alternative 4 as the most effective remedy in preventing contamination in the target area from spreading.
“Alternative 4 we looked at was to have injection wells where we re-inject the water back into the aquifer after treating it,” Cruz said. “This area of re-injection will be outside of the contaminated area, which will then not recontaminate the groundwater.”
To implement Alternative 4, about 17 extraction and injection wells and pipelines are required, along with the construction of a treatment plan to treat approximately 6,546 gallons of water per minute and a performance monitoring program to track groundwater contamination levels.
Alternative 4 is anticipated to cost $248.9 million, representing the 30-year operating costs, including all operations, in addition to the actual capital expenditures.
Cruz alleviated concerns regarding the safety of Fullerton’s drinking water under the surveillance of the OCWD and the EPA.
“Residents have continued to be protected through all the diligence of both our local city and Orange County Water District through an intense monitoring network, so the drinking water is completely safe to drink and will continue to stay that way through our process,” Cruz said.
The EPA will make a decision on the proposed plan after considering input from state officials and the community regarding the recommended alternative.