Site Mitigation & Restoration Program

We protect and maintain California’s land and places
by setting strict standards for land restoration and cleanup

Former Ketema Aerospace & Electronics

Site Background

The California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is supervising an environmental investigation and clean-up activities associated with the former Ketema/AMETEK aerospace facility at 790 Greenfield Drive in El Cajon, California. The environmental investigations include adjacent mobile home parks and Magnolia Elementary School. Past operations at the Ketema Site resulted in the release of vapor forming chemicals, primarily trichloroethene (TCE), into soil and groundwater.

Since 1987, the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) and DTSC have overseen extensive investigation and clean-up efforts, including:

Installation and testing of more than 70 groundwater wells on and in the vicinity of the Ketema Site.
Extraction and treatment of groundwater from the former Ketema Site and adjacent Magnolia Elementary School.
Injection of a chemical compound at the Ketema Site to break down and destroy the vapor forming chemicals in the groundwater.

These cleanup efforts continue, and additional soil vapor and groundwater investigations are being conducted to determine whether expanded cleanup is needed on and in the vicinity of the Ketema Site.

Magnolia Elementary School

Since 1994 and routinely since 2009, soil vapor and indoor air have been tested at the former Ketema Site and Magnolia Elementary School. Testing has consistently shown that the Ketema Site and Magnolia Elementary School are both safe for occupancy.

As an added protective measure, a sub-slab depressurization system or air exhaust system was installed in 2015 for each classroom at the Magnolia Elementary School. These systems prevent soil vapors from entering indoors. A vapor barrier was also installed during the construction of the new classroom building in 2016-2017.

To ensure the continued safety, soil vapor and indoor air monitoring at the Ketema Site and Magnolia Elementary School continues.

A groundwater remediation system has been operational since October 2012 on the Magnolia Elementary School and consists of two active extraction wells used to capture contaminated groundwater. The extracted groundwater is then treated at the Ketema Site and discharged to the sewer in accordance with a permit from the Water Board. Groundwater is currently monitored at the Ketema Site, and in the adjacent school and mobile home park areas.

In the Spring of 2019, a soil vapor extraction (SVE) pilot test was completed that proved effective in removing vapor forming chemicals and controlling the spread of vapor forming chemicals to the nearby mobile home parks. In September 2019, the SVE pilot testing activities were resumed to actively remove vapor forming chemicals and further evaluate the effectiveness of the SVE as a cleanup remedy.

Mobile Home Parks

A mobile home park at dusk A vapor intrusion assessment is currently being conducted at the residences within the Starlight, Greenfield, and Villa Cajon Mobile Home Parks. Through January 2022, indoor air has been tested in a total of 208 homes with some tested multiple times.

DTSC required increased ventilation of the crawl spaces for 10 of the 208 homes based on indoor air testing results. Post-ventilation sampling shows that the ventilation measures are successfully reducing vapors in indoor air. Indoor air monitoring at mobile home parks is ongoing and active mitigations are being implemented as needed. A workplan to present cleanup alternatives to supplement the existing groundwater cleanup is expected before the Fall of 2022.