Viewfinder: The Newly Reopened Santa Monica Water Treatment Plant

A dedication ceremony for the was held Thursday morning. and City Manager Rod Gould spoke; and City Councilmen Terry O'Day, Bob Holbrook and Bobby Shriver were in attendance.

Prior to the ceremony, Construction Manager Alex Nazarchuk gave Santa Monica Patch a guided tour of the facility, which shut down in 1996 due to contamination from underground gasoline leakage. The contamination ruined half of the city's water supply.

It cost $60 million to reopen the facility, which is actually located in Los Angeles, at 1228 S. Bundy Dr. On December 4, the facility started producing water again for Santa Monica. Eighty percent of the city's water now comes from the plant, with the remainder derived from the City of Los Angeles.

"We finished a month ahead of schedule and a little under budget," Nazarchuck said, noting that construction took a year. The $1 million that was saved is going back to the city.

Bloom glowed about the reopening. "We've proven that success can be wrestled out of even the worst environmental disasters," he said.

Gould was all smiles when he spoke. "There's a palpable sense of excitement," he said. "This is a day for pride. We've taken a big step toward our self-sufficiency goal."

Bloom, however, noted that achieving full sustainability will be difficult and require a citywide reduction in water usage, among other measures.

Heal the Bay President was also in attendance. He told Santa Monica Patch that the reopening of the well is a victory over big oil.

Join SM Patch for the tour of the facility in the photo gallery above.