Orange Cnty. Water Dist. v. Alcoa Global Fasteners, Inc.

*268 The Orange County Water District (the District) brought this action to recover costs associated with the North Basin Groundwater Protection Project (NBGPP), a proposed $200 million effort intended to address groundwater contamination in northern Orange County, California caused by volatile organic compounds (VOC's) and other chemicals. Since at least the mid-1980's, the District and other regulatory agencies such as the Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB) have been aware of VOC groundwater contamination in the North Basin area. The District and various private parties under the direction of the RWQCB investigated the sources of contamination. Based on these investigations, the District and others concluded that the groundwater contamination was caused by VOC releases at a number of industrial sites in the North Basin area. Under the supervision of the RWQCB and other regulatory agencies, several of these industrial sites have undergone remediation to remove VOC contamination from the shallow soil and groundwater. Other industrial sites received "no further action" letters from the RWQCB based on their investigations.

Concerned that VOC contamination remained in…