Despite environmental testing on multiple properties, including the SLO County Regional Airport, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board has yet to find the source of that contamination.
In November 2016, after testing showed that the airport was not the source of the TCE groundwater contamination, the water board turned its focus to three nearby properties, including Strasbaugh’s, which had been singled out for potential TCE-related issues as far back as 2013.
The property owners were required to pay for sampling and testing to determine if they were the source of the TCE.
In an interview with New Times, Strasbaugh said he has already spent about $50,000 total in connection with the water board’s investigation of his property.
Testing also indicated that a commercial property on Buckley Road owned by John Coakley likely wasn’t the source of the contamination either.
The letter also claimed that Noll was thinking about getting a bank loan, but expressed doubt she’d be approved once the lenders found out what the money would be used for.
According to county officials, it cost $592,711 to conduct testing at the airport.
Ossentjuk said that Noll filed a preliminary application asking for more than $45,000 in funding through the State Water Resources Control Board’s Site Cleanup Subaccount Program, or SCAP, which provides grants to remediate existing or threatened harm caused by surface and groundwater contamination.
Noll isn’t the only one seeking funding through SCAP in connection with the Buckley Road TCE contamination.
However, Thomas did say that they would be able to try and get that money back from whoever is ultimately found responsible for the contamination.