b.f. goodrich

3196 NORTH LOCUST AVENUE

The "Rockets, Fireworks, and Flares" (RFF) Site includes a 160-Acre Area in Rialto, California where volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and perchlorate have contaminated soil and groundwater. The Site, formerly known as the B.F. Goodrich Site, also includes areas of groundwater contamination downgradient of the 160-Acre Area. The 160-Acre Area is bounded by West Casa Grande Drive on the north, Locust Avenue on the east, Alder Avenue on the west, and an extension of Summit Avenue on the south. The Site is located in the Rialto-Colton Groundwater Basin in western San Bernardino County, California. The Basin is an important source of drinking water to residents and businesses in the cities of Rialto, Colton, and Fontana. The 160-Acre Area was part of a larger area used by the United States Army in the 1940s as inspection, consolidation, and storage facility for rail cars transporting ordnance to the Port of Los Angeles. Since the United States sold the Rialto property in 1946, the 160-Acre Area has been used by defense contractors, fireworks manufacturers, and other businesses that used perchlorate salts and/or solvents in their manufacturing processes or products. In 1956 and 1957, West Coast Loading Corporation manufactured and tested two products, photoflash flares and "ground-burst simulators," containing potassium perchlorate. From about 1957 to 1962, B.F. Goodrich Corporation conducted research, development, testing, and production of solid-fuel rocket propellant containing ammonium perchlorate, and used solvents in the manufacturing process. Since the 1960s, the 160-Acre Area has been used by a number of companies that manufactured or sold pyrotechnics, including Pyrotronics, Pyro Spectaculars, and American Promotional Events.