Rancho Cordova-based GenCorp Inc. and its Aerojet subsidiary are facing a fine of $12,000 by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in connection with alleged violations of effluent limitations. Water quality-based effluent limitations are calculated in order to insure that discharges to waters are in compliance with water quality standards. Water quality standards include water quality criteria,  use designations or classifications of the state’s waters. Examples of such classifications inlude, public water supplies, aquatic life uses, and recreational uses.  

Effluent limitations guidelines for direct dischargers such as Aerojet are created through the National Polluntant Discharge Elimiation System (NPDES) permit program.  Discharges from direct dischargers (facilities that discharge wastewaters directly into waters of the United States) are regulated in permits that specify limits using Best Practicable Control Technology Currently Available (BPT), Best Available Technology Economically Achievable (BAT), Best Conventional Pollutant Control Technology (BCT), and New Source Performance Standards (NSPS). All standards are regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The board said that the violations occurred at Aerojet’s groundwater treatment plant from the period of Jan. 1, 2000, through April 30, 2008. Effluent materials cited by the board included trichloroethylene, perchlorate, formaldehyde and acetaldehyde.

The Aerojet facility discharges groundwater to the American River, Buffalo Creek and Morrison Creek in Sacramento County. The fine will be discussed at a water board’s February public meeting.