Calling it a “win-win-win for NASA, for the City of Pasadena, and for its citizens,” NASA’s Deputy Assistant Administrator for Infrastructure Dr. James W. Wright joined area residents and civic leaders to break ground for a new NASA-funded City of Pasadena groundwater treatment plant. The plant, located at the City’s Windsor Reservoir, represents the next step toward allowing the City to re-open four closed water production wells and deliver clean water from them to Pasadena Water & Power (PWP) customers.

     “NASA is making good on its commitment to clean up the environment,” Dr. Wright said at the March 17 groundbreaking ceremony. “Throughout the planning process for this plant,” Dr. Wright said, “openness and community involvement have been hallmarks of this project.” He continued, “On his very first day in office, President Barack Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, which recognizes that, in his words, ‘Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in government.’ NASA and the City sought to engage the community on virtually every step along the way – from siting the plant, to landscaping, to plant design. I am extremely pleased about that.”

     The plant will remove perchlorate and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from groundwater near the closed wells. NASA is funding construction and will also cover costs of plant operation. The City of Pasadena will be the facility’s owner-operator. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

     Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard also spoke at the groundbreaking and noted: “NASA and the City of Pasadena have a special and valuable relationship. Working together, we’ve taken a difficult issue … and brought about a positive solution.” He acknowledged the “green character of this project” and praised NASA and PWP for encouraging what he termed, “the participation and cooperation of the neighborhood.” The restoration to the City of water supplies, Mayor Bogaard noted, “represents a very important contribution to water sufficiency in the Pasadena area.”

     Neighborhood leader Tecumseh Shackelford reinforced the Mayor’s comments, telling the crowd of about 140 that, “NASA and the City listened to the community and to our suggestions regarding design and landscaping and incorporated several of them into the plant. We appreciate their (NASA’s and the City’s) efforts to reach out to the community.”

     In response, PWP General Manager Phyllis Currie said, “We’ll make sure we’re a good neighbor, so that the plant doesn’t intrude on your quality of life. … We’ll do everything to make it an asset, not a detriment.”

     Also present at the groundbreaking were NASA Cleanup Project Manager Steve Slaten and Manager of Community Involvement Merrilee Fellows.

     Slaten told the gathering, “With the Pasadena facility, NASA’s three-plant treatment strategy to clean up the groundwater chemicals from beneath the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and from beneath areas adjacent to JPL is now nearing full execution. Existing NASA-funded treatment plants have been removing significant amounts of groundwater chemicals from the source area at JPL and from the farthest reaches of the area affected by the chemicals, at wells operated by the Lincoln Avenue Water Company. This new plant will provide groundwater cleanup in the middle of those two areas.”

     Fellows later noted, “Like the cleanup project itself, the groundbreaking ceremony spotlighted NASA’s relationship with local residents. As construction progresses, NASA will continue to keep the public informed, and – more importantly – we’ll continue to listen and respond to the public’s comments and concerns.”

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