In July 1939, Glen Johnson, Delano’s Water Superintendent and Operator of Sewage Works authored an article in The Sewage Works Journal called “The Delano Plant” which described how the city’s first and only WWTF was built in “an area of poor soils” that was “well-adapted for a sewer farm.”
Shell and Dow mixing toxic byproducts into their fumigants; they get spread by farmers in the Central Valley (123 TCP)
North Kern State Prison was built, the City expanded the WWTF by 0.8 mgd, bringing the WWTF to its current 4.4 mgd capacity. (2)
The City entered into a long- term contract to sell excess treated wastewater to the Sandrini Brothers, who until recently, recycled effluent on a 640 acre farm. Due to the death of the Sandrini Brothers, the farmland has been divided into two different farms that put the 1991 contract in jeopardy. (1)
“Prior to his retirement, he was employed at Wasco State Prison where he served as a community resource officer (liaison between the community and the prison), a correctional officer and a supervisor. Armendariz’s community service includes being a member of the Delano City Council for 12 years.”
When the EPA passed new laws about acceptable arsenic levels in the early 2000s, Delano tested its groundwater between 2000-2003, which resulted in 9 out of 11 of Delano’s total wells exceeding the allowable arsenic limit (Source: 2015 UWMP)
Kern Valley State Prison opens on 600 acres of land, first to Level 1 in June, then Level 4’s in July (CDCR)
Report by the Kern County Local Oversight Program published. States that North Kern State Prison Groundwater already impacted by gasoline-related compounds from a gas leak in 1993. “Soil and groundwater appear to be significantly impacted by MTBE [Methyl tertbutyl ether], TBA [Tertiary Butyl Alcohol] and other gasoline constituents.”
