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More Water Quality News
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Following are excerpts taken from News articles. We have listed them in state or country order. At the bottom of this list, you will find other various articles on contaminants and health issues.
Many of these articles illustrate the length of time that passes between the time of contamination and the time the public is notified. In each case, several years passed before anyone was notified that there was a contamination problem. And in some cases, consumers were not notified at all, unless an environmental or public interest group researched the matter. Once the pollution is identified, it may take many years to solve the contamination problem. In the meantime, consumers' drinking water contains harmful contaminants.
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ALABAMA
Private well users urged to check for contaminants
Robertsdale, AL - September 29, 2002, (al.com)
Residents using private wells are urged to test their water for contamination following last week’s flooding, a Health Department official said.
Floodwaters could have sent sewage, agricultural runoff and other contaminants into well systems, said the environmental supervisor for the Baldwin County Health Department. Anyone living in an area that was flooded during Tropical Storm Isadore should check their wells before drinking the water or using it to water animals, he said.
Although water color can be an indication of a dirty well, he said, it does not necessarily warn an individual of the presence of contaminants.
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Report on water polluters in Alabama
State of Alabama - August 7, 2002 (AL.com)
The nonprofit Public Interest Research Group reported that 72 of Alabama's water polluters were significant, illegal polluters.
Alabama's environmental agency reported that it is still capable of running its own water program.
PIRG's report placed Alabama among the top 10 states with large factories or other major wastewater plants in violation of the Clean Water Act. Some of those violations were paperwork, and some were actual pollution.
Using EPA's records, the group also found that 72 of Alabama's polluters were pouring toxins into waters at such a high rate that EPA classifies them as a significant problem.
Violations of the U.S. Clean Water Act are not unusual in Alabama, or in any state. The report showed that six states had more illegal water polluters than Alabama. About 180 streams and lakes in Alabama are classified as impaired under the Clean Water Act, meaning they don't meet minimum pollution standards.
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Deadly PCBs, Dirt and Chemicals
Anniston, AL - January 1, 2002 (Washington Post)
"ON the west side of Anniston, the people ate dirt. They called it Alabama clay and cooked it for extra flavor. They also grew berries in their gardens, raised hogs in their backyards, caught bass in the murky streams where their children swam and played and were baptized. They didn't know their dirt and yards and bass and kids along with the acrid air they breathed were all contaminated with chemicals. They didn't know they lived in one of the most polluted patches of America.
Now they know. They also know that for nearly 40 years, while producing the now-banned industrial coolants known as PCBs at a local factory, Monsanto Co. routinely discharged toxic waste into a west Anniston creek and dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into oozing open-pit landfills.
David Carpenter, an environmental health professor at the State University of New York at Albany, has been a leading advocate of the EPA's plan to dredge the Hudson, but he says the PCB problems in Anniston are much worse.
In the absence of data, local residents seem to believe the worst. The stories linger: the cancer cluster up the hill; the dog that died after a sip from Snow Creek; the fish that turned belly-up within 10 seconds of being submerged in the creek."
For the complete story CLICK HERE
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MTBE in the Water
Montgomery, AL - January 8, 2002 (AP)
"State officials are testing for contaminated soil and well water at several Montgomery County homes after one of six monitoring wells in the neighborhood tested positive for the fuel additive MTBE.
Officials said the MTBE most likely leaked from a Mobil gas station. The station has been under scrutiny since inspectors detected a leak in its underground fuel tanks in 1988.
Barry Wood, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, said, we have been continually monitoring this site since 1988. A well tested and came up with MTBE. After you find it, you have to fix it. We are planning to fix it by hooking them up to public water. "
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More information on MTBE - http://www.theolivebranch.com/water/mtbe.htm
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ARIZONA
Page drinking water contaminated
Page, AZ - July 2, 2002 (Lake Powell Chronicle)
Trace amounts of contaminant metals are showing up in Page's drinking water at levels exceeding those allowed by the EPA. City officials believe old water pipes are to blame, but replacing the city's water lines could cost as much as $10 million.
It was not immediately clear what effects these substances might have on people who drink the water. Fred Ladman, city engineering spokesperson, said he did not believe the contamination posed any short-term risks. If you drink a couple glasses of water a day for a couple of months, nothing is going to happen to you, he said. What the long-term effects of this might be, I really can t say.
The situation is serious enough that Mayor J. Dean Slavens recommended that residents in the affected area, especially children and senior citizens, consider switching to bottled drinking water until further testing yields more information.
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City fined for water, waste violations
Phoenix, AZ - June 25, 2002 (Water Tech)
The EPA and the US Department of Justice have fined the city of Phoenix $198,532 for numerous hazardous waste and water violations at its drinking water facilities on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community and the Fort McDowell Yavapai Nation.
Phoenix stored corrosive, hazardous waste without a permit, according to EPA; mistakenly combined ferric chloride and sulfuric acid two incompatible acids and moved the toxic mixture to an aboveground tank.
The city also failed to immediately notify the National Response Center after it released approximately 14,000 gallons of the highly toxic mixture into tributaries of two rivers, EPA said.
The release occurred in August 1996 and was not reported to the NRC until September 1997 more than 13 months later, the agency alleged.
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CALIFORNIA
Plan waives water pollution rules for farmers
Sacramento, CA - December 6, 2002,(Contra Costa Times)
A key water overseer in California said tens of thousands of farms can continue to operate without limits on pesticides, salts and other pollutants that drain from their fields.
The decision by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board came as a deep disappointment to environmentalists, who had hoped the expiration date on Dec. 31 of regulatory exemptions for farmers, logging operations and other diffused water pollution sources would lead to an aggressive new cleanup effort throughout the state.
Instead water regulators decided to extend the waiver of permit requirements for two more years.
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Vended water flunks tests
Los Angeles, CA - December 10, 2002, (L.A. Daily News)
Water sold in vending machines near supermarkets by the largest seller in California fails to meet state standards one-third of the time and falls short of claims of being 97 percent contaminant-free, says a report released by Environmental Working Group and Environmental Law Foundation.
The first study of its kind analyzed water from machines operated by San Diego County-based Glacier Water Services Inc. It mirrors findings on vending machine water by Los Angeles County.
The study found that water from one-third of the Glacier machines tested exceeded the state health standard for contaminants that have been linked to increased cancer risk and birth defects if consumed above certain levels. More than two-thirds fell short of the company’s claim that the machines remove 97 percent of the contaminants.
Glacier Water is California’s biggest operator of water-vending machines. The company operates more than 7,000 machines in California and 14,000 nationwide.
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Valley Center, CA - November 26, 2002,(Water Tech Online)
The school board authorized testing for MTBE at two school district water wells and another well at a softball field used by school children because of concerns over cases of cancer among area children.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that researchers with the University of California Irvine Epidemiology Department confirmed eight cases of childhood cancer from 1997-2001 in Valley Center, when statistical formulas indicate about 3.8 cases would be normal.
HP Labs of San Diego is conducting tests, requested by the residents, for chemical contamination on water samples taken from 14 pipes and storage facilities serving the Valley Center Municipal Water District.
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Cases of similar child cancers haunt neighborhood
Sacramento, CA - September 22, 2002(Sacramento Bee)
Shirley Reidenbach’s 6-year-old daughter was just starting her chemotherapy when she met Gretchen Jaeger, whose 4-year-old daughter was in her second month of treatment. Both girls had leukemia.
The women were stunned to discover they lived just three blocks apart on the same street. “I thought it was just coincidence,” Jaeger recalled. “Then I heard about Denise.”
Denise Norris lived around the corner from the Jaegers and was also starting chemotherapy. She had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer related to leukemia.
All 3 neighbors were diagnosed in 1995. In 1998, a 3-year-old boy who lived a block away developed leukemia. Then in 2002, another child was diagnosed with leukemia.
In addition to the five cases within those few blocks, at least nine other children and one adult in that area have been diagnosed with leukemia in the past 11 years. All 15 lived within 3 miles of the Jaegers’ street.
The Reidenbachs no longer live in that neighborhood because they suspect the area’s well water is hurting the children.
Last September, the owner of the water system found a nearby well polluted with a solvent chemical, PCE. The concentration in one sample was 15 times above the legal limit. Several health studies have shown a link between childhood leukemia and PCE.
More information on this story:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/4505234p-5524921c.html
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California urges study of alarming breast cancer rates
San Francisco, CA - October 24, 2002, (Reuters)
Faced with an alarming and unexplained rise in new breast cancer cases, California officials called Wednesday for a pilot program to monitor breast milk for signs that environmental contamination plays in a role in the spread of the deadly disease.
"When women in America today are getting breast cancer at a rate that is three times the rate of 50 years ago, something is seriously wrong," state Assemblyman Dario Frommer said at a special joint meeting of the legislature's health committees. "We need to take a hard look at what is causing this surge in cancer and what we can do to reverse this trend."
Breast cancer rates across the country have increased steadily in recent years, with the risk of a woman contracting the disease at some point during her life now at 1-in-8, against 1-in-22 just 50 years ago.
"I believe it is high time to seriously consider environmental chemicals as the most likely cause of this sudden increase in risk," said Dr. Ana Soto, a breast cancer specialist at Tufts Medical School.
While many breast cancer studies focus on genetics or lifestyle factors such as reproductive history, alcohol use, and exercise, Soto said there was little being done to assess how environmental toxins may be causing cancer.
"The increasing risk of breast cancer and other cancers has paralleled the proliferation of synthetic chemicals since World War II," Soto said, adding that only 7 percent of the estimated 85,000 synthetic chemicals registered for use in the United States had been subjected to toxicological screening.
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Tap water poses risks, study says
Los Angeles, San Francisco, Fresno, CA - October 30, 2002 (LA Times)
The water that residents of California’s largest cities get from their taps might meet most government safety standards, but it still poses some health risks and needs to be treated more thoroughly, according to a study released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
A report called, "What's on Tap", concluded that antiquated waterworks and pollution are combining to affect the quality of drinking water residents receive in many cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
More on that report - http://www.nrdc.org/water/drinking/uscities/execsum.asp
Though many urban residents can drink tap water without serious threats to their health, the study concluded that some contaminants still pose a risk, especially to infants, pregnant women, and people with AIDS and other immune system deficiencies. In Fresno, the study found, the risk may be substantial. Fresno water showed “repeated problems” with pesticides and industrial chemicals.
“There are still significant risks from contaminants,” said NRDC senior attorney Erik Olson, one of the study’s authors. “The other issue is that because of deteriorating infrastructure, and the need to improve pipes underground, things are likely to get worse unless significant improvements are made. “It’s like someone that hasn’t brushed their teeth in years,” he added. “It may be hidden for a while, but eventually it’s going to catch up with you.”
Los Angeles water contains noteworthy amounts of disinfection byproducts, among other chemicals. San Francisco water does not meet a new standard for trihalomethanes that have been linked to cancer.
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Early ban of MTBE requested
Pleasanton, CA, October 11, 2002 (Bay Area.com)
Livermore-Amador Valley’s Zone 7 Water Agency is urging local gas stations to immediately convert to MTBE-free gasoline to help prevent groundwater contamination and millions of dollars in potential cleanup costs.
Although California has postponed a ban of MTBE for another year, Zone 7 is seeking voluntary phase out now by stations with underground storage tanks located near municipal drinking water wells.
Zone 7 has sent letters to about 50 stations within the “capture zones” of municipal wells asking them to voluntarily convert now, or at least to install monitoring equipment.
“As manager of the groundwater basin, we must make every effort to protect our precious water resources, as well as the region’s 27 municipal wells from the very real threat of contamination posed by MTBE,” said Zone 7 board member John Marchand. Fifteen of those wells are in Pleasanton and 12 are in Livermore.
He said water from those wells provides as much as one-third of the valley’s drinking water.
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Cleanup in Irvine, by Order of the Court
Irvine, CA, October 9, 2002 (LA Times)
Under police guard, a construction crew began a project aimed at removing pollutants from under an Irvine gas station despite protests from the business owner.
County prosecutors took the unusual step of getting a court order to perform the work, saying leaking underground gas tanks were threatening the local water supply. It’s the latest step in a crackdown on environmental pollution by a special unit of the district attorney’s office.
The owner of Alfie’s Place, a busy service station, carwash and lube shop, has been fighting for several years with the former owner, Unocal, over the placement of equipment needed to clean up underground pollutants. Unocal agreed in 1995 to clean up pollutants that leaked from its underground tanks before it sold the station.
The owner said he was shocked when a police officer, district attorney investigator and construction crews entered his property to begin the cleanup. Burnstine went to court Tuesday to stop the work, but a judge declined to issue a restraining order.
Tests have shown that MTBE slowly is seeping under the Alfie’s Place property and poses a potential threat to a “major drinking-water aquifer” a few miles away.
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Lead in water raises concerns
Modesto, CA - September 13, 2002(Modesto Bee)
Officials say lead levels high enough to trigger additional water treatment have been found in homes near Groveland, though they add that people should not be alarmed.
Groveland is about 25 miles west of Yosemite National Park.
Lead, a common metal, can cause damage to the brain, red blood cells and kidneys. The greatest risk is to young children and pregnant women. Lead seldom occurs naturally in water. Most often it leaches into drinking water from pipes.
The district is required to control pipeline corrosion, a source of lead, once more than 10 percent of homes tested are found to have lead levels above the 15 ppb level, James Hampton, operations supervisor for the Groveland Community Services District.
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Valley Center to expand water testing
Valley Center, CA - September 6, 2002(North County Times)
Water district officials plan to begin testing Valley Center water for at least 49 possible contaminants to see if they can be linked to a group of cancer cases among community residents.
In mid-August we received a list of 89 chemicals from the local cancer-cluster coordinating committee through UC Irvine, Valley Center Water District General Manager Gary Arant said. We took it to our board of directors, and they approved additional testing.
More than a dozen children in the Valley Center area have developed leukemia or brain tumors in recent years, which is about twice the national average of cases for a population that size. Residents there have formed the independent group Concerned Citizens of Valley Center to study the matter and to raise money for the families of patients.
Arant said the chemicals on the new list are all pesticides used in the Valley Center area between 1990 and 2000, taken from records kept by the state Department of Agricultural Weights and Measures.
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Crews clean an MTBE leak in Los Osos
Los Osos, CA - August 6, 2002 (The Tribune)
Crews digging at a former Chevron station of Los Osos Valley Road are now in the midst of a second cleanup of soil and groundwater contaminated with a potentially harmful gasoline additive.
Gasoline tanks leaked MTBE into the soil and groundwater, and was detected in a nearby drinking water well, said Corey Walsh, a geologist with the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The state agency is overseeing the MTBE cleanup.
Around here where you have shallow groundwater, by the time you find it (in soil) it s contaminated the groundwater, Walsh said.
Leaks were originally reported in June 1990, Walsh said, and a cleanup followed years later. The station voluntarily stopped selling gasoline in May 2001, and its underground storage tank was removed two months later.
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Distrusting the tap. Weariness over water reflects public's mood
Sacramento, CA - July 20, 2002(Sacramento Bee)
Californians don't think much of the government's ability to protect the environment, and most put this belief into action with every swallow they take.
Only a quarter of Californians routinely drink the water that comes from a tap. In Los Angeles, only 18 percent trust the tap. Another 32 percent take it filtered. Residents in the Central Valley drink straight tap water more than any other region, and they're still a minority only 33 percent.
This finding was part of a broader tapping of the state's environmental pulse by the Public Policy Institute of California.
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"Area south of Sebastopol told to avoid contact with water that may contain toxins"
Sebastopol, CA - May 13, 2002 (Press Democrat)
State water officials are trying to figure out why several private wells south of Sebastopol are contaminated with dangerous chemicals that may cause cancer and other health problems.
The state first learned about the contamination more than three years ago, but officials began investigating this year when the chemicals were found in a fourth well on Lynch Road.
A lack of funding prevented earlier investigation, according to officials with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board.
For now, the source of the contamination, how long it has been in the groundwater and how many wells are contaminated is a mystery.
Nobody shows any signs of illness from the water now, said Neil Bickerton, resident. I m worried my kids will get cancer of the liver or kidneys when they're in their 30s.
Tests have so far detected chemicals, tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE), in at least 13 wells in the area, state officials said. The chemicals exceed state and federal safe drinking water standards in at least four of the wells, state records show.
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"MTBE tainted water dumped in Kern"
Bakersfield, CA - March 31, 2002 (Bakersfield Californian)
Without informing local regulators, Chevron Texaco Corp. has been trucking water contaminated with the controversial gasoline additive MTBE into Kern County for most of the past year and injecting it into oil wells in the form of steam.
A coastal water board, with no jurisdiction over Kern, apparently approved the plan after two other coastal agencies refused to allow Chevron to dump the stuff in their boundaries.
The contaminated water contains a few hundred parts of MTBE per billion parts of water, according to Chevron spokesman Ed Spaulding. It is being injected as steam used to heat and soften crude oil and make it easier to pump to the surface. The water that returns to the surface with the oil is then separated from the oil, filtered and recycled into the steam process.
The contaminated water comes from the scenic coastal town of Cambria, six miles south of Hearst Castle and about 100 miles northwest of Bakersfield. Gasoline containing MTBE apparently leaked from a tank beneath a Chevron service station on the town s main street.
It has destroyed several private wells in the Kern County town of Glennville, which has no community water system.
There are some 10,000 contaminated sites in the state so far.
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Pollution fuels fears about water
San Bernardino, CA -August 7, 2002 (Press-Enterprise)
A plume of groundwater contamination covers a larger area of Rialto, Fontana and Colton than previously reported, and water officials are worrying about loss of drinking-water wells in a time of drought.
The plume now extends south and has closed at least 14 drinking-water wells. The seven contaminated wells closed by the Fontana Water Co. amount to a loss of 15,000 gallons per minute, General Manager Michael McGraw said.
The underground contamination has been spreading for many years from an industrial area in northern Rialto.
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"MTBE more than halfway to Truckee River"
Lake Tahoe, CA - March 26, 2002 - (Tahoe Daily Tribune)
MTBE contaminated groundwater is 800 feet from Upper Truckee River, according to soil samples collected for the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The MTBE, a suspected carcinogen, came from a leaking pipe at the Beacon gas station in Meyers. The leak was discovered in 1997. Lahontan and South Tahoe Public Utility District have battled the water-soluble fuel additive ever since.
The samples, taken in December, show the MTBE contaminated water plume has moved about 2,000 feet from its point of origin toward the Upper Truckee, a tributary of Lake Tahoe and Lake Baron.
The agency has been working to clean up the site since 1998. That s when it gave up trying to get owner Joe Tveten to comply with its directives.
The agency did not identify the location of the leak until last fall. Tventen failed to reveal its whereabouts before he committed suicide in the winter of 2000.
Lahontan removed 400 cubic feet MTBE contaminated soil from the area. More dirt needed to come out, but at the time, the Beacon was open for business and Lahontan did not want to jeopardize the station s gas tanks, said Lisa Dernbach, senior engineering geologist at Lahontan.
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District says leak of MTBE threatens water supply
Ventura County, CA - June 20, 2002,(Inside VC)
Local water officials are warning of catastrophic damage to nearly a quarter of Ventura County's water supply because cleanup of a leaky underground fuel storage tank in Oxnard is lagging months behind schedule.
A plume of the gasoline additive MTBE has been tracked by United Water Conservation District officials. They fear it is moving increasingly closer to pumps supplying drinking water to almost 200,000 people in Oxnard and Port Hueneme.
The plume has moved to within 1,300 feet of district wells.
If I were an Oxnard citizen, I would be concerned about having this cleanup done as soon as possible so it's not a loaded gun, said Steve Bachman, groundwater manager with the district.
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Californians shy from taste of tap
Walnut Creek, CA - June 27, 2002,(Contra Costa Times)
More than 70 percent of California residents do not drink straight tap water in their homes, according to a statewide survey the Public Policy Institute of California released today. Instead, the 2,029 residents questioned overwhelmingly prefer bottled and filtered water, the report states.
Consumers shy away from tap water because of taste preference, a response to advertising and some concern about quality, said Steven Hall, director of the Association of California Water Agencies, a statewide lobbying group.
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"Board discusses progress of groundwater cleanup"
Bloomington, CA, March 27, 2002 (LA Times)
A plume of groundwater contaminated by a toxic gasoline additive is on top of an inactive water well and 500 to 600 feet away from an active well that serves a portion of about 13,500 people within the Bloomington area, a Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board official said Tuesday.
Gasoline started leaking into the ground from a fuel storage tank terminal near the Rialto-Colton border about 25 years ago. The contaminated plume has been moving in a southerly direction. The Santa Ana water board has been overseeing the cleanup work since 1993.
Though little is known about the Colton site prior to 1974, there have been 14 spills reported since then, totaling about 268,000 gallons of fuel. There are 47 above ground tanks that store 63 million gallons of fuel.
Williams said the plume has moved in the last three years at a speed of about a foot to a half-foot a day. The contaminated water is leaking southward from the tank farm.
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"Water faces threat"
Bakersfield, CA - April 7, 2002 - (Bakersfield Californian)
Three plumes of gasoline have developed from leaky tanks near the mountain community of Bear Valley Springs, possibly contaminating one drinking water well and creeping toward others. At least one of the sites has been allowed to fester for a decade.
That tainted site developed from a leaking underground gas tank at a county fire station, and while the county has been aware of its existence for years, officials have considered the contamination a low priority.
MTBE has also been found in groundwater at the nearby prison. There, the chemical has been found at levels more than 1,000 times the health standard. While the contamination is about a mile from drinking water wells, officials are very concerned about this site.
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"Two oil giants deceived the public on MTBE s hazards, jury finds "
San Francisco, CA - April 17, 2002 - (Chronicle)
In a landmark case, a San Francisco jury has found that gasoline with the additive MTBE is a defective product and that two major oil companies were aware of the chemical s dangers but withheld the information when they put it on the market.
The verdict, the first of its kind, came after seven weeks of deliberation in a five-month trial. Dozens of such cases are pending against the nation s largest oil companies that could expose the industry to billions of dollars in cleanup costs and punitive damages.
According to state records, there are 1,189 underground tank sites leaking MTBE within 1,000 feet of public supply wells or on vulnerable drinking water aquifers. An additional 1,729 leaking tank sites farther away from drinking water wells also pose a concern.
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"Cattle Ranch fined for polluting waterways"
Sacramento, CA - March 19, 2002, (Watertech)
A Tehama County ranch accused of dumping dead cattle and manure into creeks that feed into the Sacramento River was fined $1.7 million on Monday by a US District Court judge.
With 6,000 cattle producing an estimated 391,000 pounds of manure a day, the Masami Ranch first ran into trouble in 1995, when water quality regulators cited it for various violations, according to state officials, the Sacramento Bee reported. In January 2000, the attorney general's office filed a civil complaint against the ranch and its owners. It alleged the ranch was mishandling manure, and had intentionally dumped waste and dead cattle into streams feeding the Sacramento River.
For about four years, the ranch discharged manure wastewater into two creeks that feed into the Sacramento River. The defendants also admitted in court to dumping dead cattle into ravines and waterways on the ranch.
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"Farm water runoff exemption may be coming to an end"
Fallbrook, CA - March 20, 2002, (North County Times)
North County (San Diego) farmers and growers and their counterparts throughout the state may soon lose an exemption they have had for the last 20 years regarding agricultural water runoff.
Across the nation, excessive fertilizer and animal manure washing off of fields is blamed for poisoning fish and destroying the ecology of lakes and rivers as well as forcing municipal water agencies to spend huge amounts to treat water. Until now, agriculture has been largely exempt for treating farm runoff except for ensuring massive amounts of pesticides and other contaminants were not escaping.
The California State Water Resources Control Board is getting ready to launch a nine-month project involving growers, environmentalists and other interested parties in developing a measure to control the effects of agricultural water runoff. The state board and its nine regional boards, including the board for the San Diego region, are planning a series of public workshops throughout the state.
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Fresno, CA, March 5, 2002 (Fresno Bee)
The state Water Resources Control Board plans a series of public hearings beginning this spring to discuss a first-ever pesticide monitoring program.
We don t know what is coming off the fields, and that is what we are spending the money to figure out, Arthur Baggett Jr., water board chairman, said.
In addition to the $2 million for pesticide monitoring, the board plans to spend at least $600,000 during the next two years to find less toxic pesticides for farms and ranches.
WaterKeepers Northern California, a nonprofit group, claims pesticides have polluted 500 miles of waterways in Northern California.
Farmers said they also are concerned about possible contamination and want to work with the water resources board to create a sensible approach to monitoring.
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Mendota, CA - February 28, 2002 (Watertech)
Officials are exploring converting agricultural drainage water into tap water in an area that has a long history of water that is undrinkable.
For years, the water in this city has violated state Department of Health secondary drinking-water standards, meaning it does not taste or smell good, the newspaper said. Engineers blame the water woes on salty irrigation water that has been flowing in since the 1980s, when the federal government closed the San Luis Drain system.
It was closed after biologists found hundreds of dead and deformed wildlife at Kesterson reservoir, where the drain water pooled, and years later, Mendota residents are paying for the contamination that has seeped into their water supply.
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Newport Beach, CA - March 5, 2002 (LA Times)
Tiny, worm-like midge fly larvae in tap water in some parts of the city have caused officials to stop all water service from Big Canyon Reservoir.
After residents reported seeing what appeared to be worms in their tap water and toilets, city officials on February 25 began supplying water to all homes and businesses directly from the Metropolitan Water District.
The fly larvae, measuring about a 16th to an 8th of an inch long, are harmless, though unpleasant, officials said. Translucent and smaller than a grain of rice, they are difficult to see. From time to time, this can happen at an uncovered reservoir, said Pete Anista, the city s utilities director. There s no real way to get rid of them. We ve added chlorine, and we re hoping that they will run their cycle.
The reservoir normally supplies water to most parts of the city. Until recently, about three-quarters of the reservoir's water originated from city wells in Fountain Valley and nearby. In January, the wells were shut down after the potentially hazardous chemical Dioxane 1,4 was found in them.
The city's push to cover the reservoir has been stalemated in Washington for months as city officials have been looking for ways to help pay the $4.2 million cost of a soft plastic cover for the reservoir. Most recently, city officials have been trying to solicit the help of Rep. Chris Cox to obtain federal funding.
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Garberville, CA - February 23, 2001(ENS)
"An environmental group plans to sue Maxxam/Pacific Lumber over more than a million alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
At issue are the hundreds of pipes, ditches, culverts, landslides and other erosion sites that pervade the watersheds in Northern Humboldt County. As water gets channeled through these various conduits, it combines with pollution from clear-cut and herbicide laden hillsides, then flows into streams and rivers.
The California Department of Forestry, North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and US EPA have all declared that the cumulative impacts from logging operations in these areas are severe.
A report released late last year by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board shows that between 1994 and 1997, sediment delivery increased 1,161 percent in Stitz Creek and 1,365 percent in Bear Creek, EPIC notes. The North Coast Regional Board is the state agency charged with enforcing state and federal water pollution control laws in the North Coast region."
The notice of intent to sue is available at Click here - http://www.wildcalifornia.org
The report from the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board is available at Click here -http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/~rwqcb1/
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Lodi, California, March 15, 2001 (Lodi Bureau Chief)
"Toxic solvents at unsafe levels found in tests. An official involved in testing said, that preliminary results are "disturbing." Perchloroethylene, or PCE, has reportedly contaminated groundwater which effects wells. City and state officials are concerned about the threat to drinking water supplies."
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Los Angeles, March 4, 2002 (AP)
Drought has engulfed nearly a third of the United States, threatening to confront some places this summer with what experts say could be their worst water shortage in years.
In the last six months, Los Angeles has seen just over a third of its usual 11 inches.
Overall, drought has spread to about 30 percent of the country, according to forecaster Richard Tinker at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
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CANADA
Vancouver, BC - November 20, 2001 (National Post)
"British Columbians who think they’re suffering from the stomach flu or food poisoning may instead have had drinking water contaminated with parasites, the provincial health officer said. Dr. Perry Kendall told a news conference that for many years, British Columbia has had the highest rate of gastrointestinal or stomach illness in Canada.
While there’s no way to tell exactly what causes most of the stomach ailments, the water is the likely culprit, Kendall said in releasing his annual health report for 2000.
He also said people with diseases such as AIDS or cancer are especially at risk of contracting a water-borne illness and should boil their drinking water.
Three quarters of the province’s water comes from lakes, creeks, rivers or rainfall, sources that are susceptible to contamination because they aren’t treated, Kendall said.
That means parasites such as giardia and cryptosporidium, which are resistant to traditional disinfectants such as chlorine, aren’t removed.
At the latest count, British Columbia had 304 water systems on boil-water advisories, up from 220 last year, Kendall said."
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North America Shifts pollution from air to land/water
Montreal, Canada, May 31, 2002 (ENS)
Factories, electric utilities, hazardous waste management facilities and coal mines in the U.S. and Canada generated almost 3.4 million metric tons of toxic chemical waste in 1999, shows an annual report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation of North America. The wastes included 269,000 tons of chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive problems.
The report, Taking Stock is based on reports submitted to the national pollutant release and transfer registers of Canada and the U.S. by industry, and includes data on 210 chemical substances. This year, the study also presents the first five year analysis of pollution releases and management.
The North American manufacturing sector's 25 percent reduction in releases to air was offset by a 26% increase in releases to lakes, rivers and streams.
Out of the air, into the water and land emerges as a major trend from our five year analysis, said Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) executive director Janine Ferretti.
For the complete report, go to: http://www.cec.org/takingstock
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CONNECTICUT
State has plans to inventory sources of water pollution
Killingly, CT - October 28, 2002 (Norwich Bulletin)
The state Department of Public Health outlined plans for a statewide inventory of potential sources of water contamination.
Whether it’s industrial or agricultural sources or underground fuel storage tanks, Lori Mathieu of the DPH’s water supply division said that the survey would identify any potential threats to public water supplies.
Ratings for each area will indicate susceptibility of water sources to potential sources of contamination. Any problems that are located could force testing of the water supplies. In all, the project will cover 3,400 public water supply systems and 4,500 sources of supply.
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Dirty well problems persist
Stafford, CT - September 5, 2002 (the Hartford Courant)
Three weeks after a solution was proposed to fix a chronic well problem in Stafford Hollow, First Selectman Gordan J. Frassinelli Jr. sat down with residents and asked, how's the water?
Not good was the answer, but he already knew that. It looks a little better, Sharon Miller said. It still smells like dirt.
More than a decade ago, the homeowners had to abandon wells after the groundwater became contaminated with salt and gasoline. The town reached an agreement with the state Department of Environmental Protection to supply clean water. Initially, the town provided bottled water and filters but later drilled a public well.
Residents say turning on the tap is a gamble; they never know if it will flow clear or dingy. The owners of the water treatment system suggested that providing residents with clean water would require either a substantial upgrade of the system or finding a second well.
One problem state officials are hoping to avoid is using too much chlorine, which raises the sodium in the water.
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ENGLAND
Schools promote water for brainpower
June 17, 2002, Yorkshire, England (Water Tech)
A campaign has been launched in schools in Yorkshire, England to encourage children to drink more water to increase their concentration.
A report from the BBC News said studies have found that children who are dehydrated do not work as well in the classroom as those who have consumed the recommended eight glasses of water a day.
Yvonne Davison, a teacher at one of the schools involved in a pilot program, said she strongly supported the program. All brain activity is neurological and is a chemical activity which doesn t function without water.
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FLORIDA
Water Alert Breakdown
Tampa, FL - October 2, 2002 (Tampa Tribune)
The water department issued an alert warning customers not to consume or cook with tap water unless it had been boiled for at least a minute because of possible contamination. The alert went out to the news media and the public four hours after the water plant lost power, causing a temporary drop in water pressure.
“We learned from this,” said Mayor Dick Greco. “We learned that we need to do a better job. It is not acceptable for three or four hours to go by before we send out a notice.”
The water department will meet with city and county emergency officials to come up with a plan for notifying the public of emergencies, he said.
The problem extended beyond the delayed news release. The water department didn’t tell the mayor’s office about the problem until mid-afternoon. Most city employees, including the mayor’s communications director, weren’t notified at all.
Restaurants and School Districts also were not notified.
Mayor Greco called the communications breakdown a “wake-up call.”
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Orlando, FL - May 2, 2002 (AP)
Central Florida's main source of drinking water contains traces of a potentially toxic chemical leaking from a former Superfund cleanup site, officials said.
Environmental Protection Agency officials hope to identify the pollutant in the coming weeks and determine its health risk, the Orlando Sentinel reported.
The substance, composed of pesticide molecules long classified as toxic, seeped into the ground below the abandoned Tower Chemical Co. plant.
The pollutant then traveled through a sinkhole 90 feet underground into the Floridian Aquifer, a layer of porous rock from which most of the region draws its drinking water.
EPA officials don't know how far the chemical might spread. So far, most of the contamination is within 100 feet of the sinkhole, said EPA site manager Galo Jackson. Minute traces were also found in drinking water wells of several nearby homes.
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Boca Raton and Florida - January 11, 2002, (Florida Today)
"The water they drink puts more than 1,700 pregnant women in Florida at risk of miscarriages or birth defects each year, according to a study released by two environmental groups (Public Interest Research Groups and Environmental Working Group).
Florida ranked 14th worst in the nation for the number of pregnancies at risk of exposure to high levels of chlorination byproducts, the study found. Boca Raton was the worst in the state and 36th in the nation with 654 pregnancies at risk. "
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Wekiva River, FL - February 18, 2002 (Orlando Sentinel)
His son had been hospitalized in St. Petersburg with cancer for several months when Jim Williams returned to make a quick check on his home along the Wekiva River. From his backyard, he watched an airboat roar by, dousing the river with weedkiller. Suddenly, he had a queasy feeling and an urgent need for an answer. He flagged down the boat s crew and was stunned by what he heard.
He had no idea that the chemical the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had been spraying could have poisoned the river water his family uses. And the corps didn t know that Williams and other residents used river water in their homes every day.
Williams and his wife would go on to learn that a weedkiller sprayed on the Wekiva is linked to the type of cancer that nearly killed their son, now 7 and still battling the disease.
The Wekiva long has been a source of not just bathing and washing water for river dwellers, but drinking water as well. And rules that govern the corps weedkiller prohibit drinking treated water for as much as three weeks.
For 50 years, the corps has sprayed 2,4-D to kill a non-native and fast-growing nuisance called water hyacinth.
The Williamses had agonized for months about what had ignited their son s non-Hodgkin s lymphoma. They began investigating 2,4-D right after Williams learned of its use on the river. So far, the one cancer linked by studies to 2,4-D is non-Hodgkin s lymphoma.
For the complete story, CLICK HERE - http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/orl-asecherbicide18021802feb18.story
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GEORGIA
Disease outbreaks from pools, water increase, CDC reports
Atlanta, GA - November 22, 2002, (AP)
Outbreaks of disease from drinking water and swimming pools have risen dramatically in recent years despite improvements in publicly operated water systems, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Many of these drinking water outbreaks are preventable,” said Sherline Lee of the CDC. “Whether from the tap or a bottle, the public should think about where their water comes from and whether it has been made safe.”
About 70 percent of the outbreaks traced to swimming pools involved the chlorine-resistant cryptosporidium.
Germs found in wells and other sources of drinking water can include giardia and cryptosporidium.
Two people died and 122 people were hospitalized in drinking water outbreaks in 1999 and 2000, the CDC said. A total of 2,027 people were made ill by drinking water outbreaks in 1999-2000.
-------------------- Disease outbreaks from pools, drinking water increase, CDC reports
Atlanta, GA - November 22, 2002,(Contra Costa Times)
Outbreaks of disease from drinking water and swimming pools have risen dramatically in recent years despite improvements in publicly operated water systems, the government said.
One of the chief causes includes insufficient regulation of private wells, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.
“Many of these drinking water outbreaks are preventable,” said Sherline Lee of the CDC. “Whether from the tap or the bottle, the public should think about where their water comes from and whether it has been made safe.”
Germs found in wells and other sources of drinking water can include parasites such as giardia and cryptosporidium.
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State of Georgia - March 4, 2002 (AP)
Drought has engulfed nearly a third of the United States, threatening to confront some places this summer with what experts say could be their worst water shortage in years.
Thousands of shallow wells in New Hampshire and Georgia have run dry. In the last six months, Los Angeles has seen just over a third of its usual 11 inches.
Overall, drought has spread to about 30 percent of the country, according to forecaster Richard Tinker at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
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ILLINOIS
Public talks set on tainted wells
Downers Grove, IL - September 4, 2002 (Chicago Tribune)
Last month the EPA notified 14 businesses and a public utility in the industrial park that they are potentially liable for the contamination found in hundreds of private wells south of the Downers Grove site. Of 500 homes tested by the Illinois EPA in unincorporated Downers Grove, more than 400 have private wells contaminated with trichloroethylene (TCE), tetrachloroethylene (PCE) or a combination of the two chemicals, which are used as solvents.
The contaminated wells came to light after Lockformer announced in mid-2000 that numerous spills of TCE had occurred at its metal fabricating plant on Ogden Avenue in Lisle. After several private wells south of the plant tested positive for TCE, the Illinois EPA conducted a wide sampling of water. State and federal officials believe Lockformer is the source of contamination only of wells in Lisle and unincorporated areas near Lisle and Woodridge.
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Herbicide traces force school to convert to bottled water
Chicago, IL - March 25, 2002, (Watertech)
A school in the St. Charles suburb of Chicago is installing a new water-filtration system because of concerns over traces of a potentially dangerous herbicide in wells.
The herbicide was found in some samples of water taken by a consulting firm that has been conducting an environmental analysis at the school, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The herbicide has the potential to cause liver damage. Regulations set by the EPA limit its concentration in drinking water to no more than 0.5 parts per million (ppm). The levels found at Anderson School ranged from 0.032 ppm to 1.15 ppm, said spokesman Tom Hernandez.
Officials acted with caution, he said, and decided to turn off the water until a charcoal filter that will remove the herbicide is in place, the newspaper said.
The consulting firm recommended a filtering system be installed to ensure the safety of the Anderson School water supply. The firm was hired in January for an environmental analysis of the school in the wake of teacher health complaints. Those complaints include 12 cases of cancer among teachers and staff over the last 27 years, as well as respiratory problems.
Fred Carlson, director of environmental health for Kane County, said the school took appropriate action by converting to bottled water and agreeing to install a filtering system. He said the county Health Department is considering further tests of groundwater in the area.
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Lisle, IL - January 11, 2002 (PR Newswire)
"Chlorination of public drinking water may lead to harmful chemical byproducts such as chloroform, trihalomethanes, and haloacetic acids flowing from home taps according to a study released by the Environmental Working Group and the Illinois Public Interest Research Group.
The study reports that such byproducts in drinking water may put pregnant women at a higher risk for miscarriages, neural tube defects, and reduced fetal growth. At the same time, physicians universally recommend that pregnant women drink plenty of water.
The issue is complex. Chlorination of public drinking water ensures that consumers have safe drinking water according to the Water Quality Association. Together with filtration, chlorination is one of the greatest public health advancements of this millennium, notes WQA Executive Director Peter Censky. Unfortunately, however, chlorination does introduce potentially toxic contaminant byproducts.
There is a solution to the dilemma, however. Consumers can have the best of both worlds when it comes to their household water supply. Municipal water treatment systems must continue to use essential chlorination processes to safeguard against bacteria, viruses, and protozoa. Fortunately, there are several at-home devices that cheaply and simply remove possible chlorine byproducts, Harrison notes.
In addition to safeguarding pregnant women and potential bladder cancer victims from more than 100 potentially toxic chlorination byproduct compounds, commonly available home filtration units can also remove unpleasant tastes and smells associated with chlorinated water."
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INDIANA
MTBE in school’s drinking water
Roselawn, IN - November 18, 2002(Northwest Indiana News)
High levels of the gasoline additive MTBE were found in Lincoln Elementary School’s drinking water. The contamination was made public in April, but lab results showed that students were exposed to it for at least two years.
To a number of parents, the findings were a possible answer to why their children had been suffering from a host of vague illnesses, from stomachaches and headaches to more serious maladies.
Some students’ symptoms cleared up when school was not in session, only to return when students returned to classes, parents have said.
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Kids drank MTBE-laced water for two years
Roselawn, IN - July 17, 2002, (Water Tech Online)
State environmental officials said that a service station is the primary source of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) contamination of drinking water at an elementary school in Roselawn, IN, and that kids likely have been drinking MTBE-laced water for at least two years.
The Associated Press reported that investigators from the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) found that most of the MTBE in Lincoln Elementary Schools drinking water originated one-third of a mile away at the Bozeman Oil Co.
According to the news service, more than 450 elementary students have been drinking water tainted with MTBE, a possible human carcinogen, for at least two years.
The children could have been drinking the tainted water for a longer period since the school only began testing for MTBE in 2000.
Some drinking water at the school tested as high as 350 parts per billion of MTBE.
Both the EPA and the IDEM consider any water with more than 45 ppb unsafe to drink.
Students and parents have been suffering from unexplained illnesses, including stomach aches, migraines, respiratory problems, rashes and nosebleeds, although the cause of the ailments has not been determined.
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Roselawn, Indiana (Washington, DC, May 9, 2002 - ENS)
Stephenson told the lawmakers about a school in Roselawn, Indiana that discovered the children had been using and drinking water with 10 times the EPA's recommended safe limit of the gasoline additive MTBE.
This is a detailed report on leaking tanks: http://ens-news.com/ens/may2002/2002L-05-09-05.html
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LOUISIANA
Bosier, LA - October 25, 2001 (Water Tech Online)
"While miles apart geographically, the communities of Columbus, MI; Bossier City, LA; and Avoca, PA have similarities: they are primarily small rural communities that have similar high rates of some of the same types of cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems, according to Gibbons Law Firm.
Attorney Jim Gibbons alleges that the health problems are the direct result of operations at Kerr-McGee wood treatment facilities in all three communities.
Kerr-McGee’s wood treatment plants operate in the company’s Forest Products Division, which provides treatment for about 40 percent of the railroad crossties in the United States. Up until the mid-1970s, pentachlorophenol (PCP) was used to treat the wood at the Columbus plant. The use of PCP has since been discontinued.
PCPs contain substances that are toxic to humans, and additional toxic substances are produced throughout the treatment process. These chemicals include, but are not limited to, dioxin, lead, chromium, and benzene.
According to the lawyers representing the residents, these substances have been improperly handled and disposed of for years, contaminating the surface water and groundwater in the surrounding communities."
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MAINE
Experts tell Mendon residents about dangers of lead poisoning
Mendon, MA, May 3, 2002 (Milford Daily News)
The levels of toxic lead found in private drinking water wells in the Blackstone Street area are so high that residents should avoid brushing their teeth with it, according to experts.
Dangerous lead particles can also become airborne through hot showers or baths and then be ingested or breathed, according to Paul Riendeau, educational coordinator at New England Water Works in Holliston, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating people about drinking water.
As for bathing and washing, that is something that should be looked at very carefully. When it comes to your health, you don t want to take a chance, especially with children, said Riendeau.
Breathing or ingesting lead-laced water is far worse than absorption through skin. If children are exposed to excessive levels of lead, it can cause brain damage, affect growth, damage kidneys, impair hearing, cause vomiting, headaches and appetite loss, and learning and behavioral problems, according to the National Safety Council. In adults, lead can increase blood pressure and cause digestive problems, kidney damage, nerve disorders, sleep problems, muscle and joint pain, and mood changes.
Drinking the water puts lead directly in the digestive system, potentially causing such health problems within weeks. Absorption through the skin could take months or years before a problem is noted, Riendeau said.
Riendeau couldn t give the exact concentration when lead can become airborne through steamy water. That is something that needs to be researched by working with the state Department of Environmental Protection, he said.
The legal limit for lead in water is 15 parts per billion. Several Mendon residents have tested their wells and found levels of 15 ppb to 400 ppb.
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Mendon, MA, March 31, 2002 (Metrowest Daily News)
The digging is finished, but police and neighbors are still waiting for test results from their investigation of illegal dumping on four lots owned by LRC Building Corp of Milford.
Brad Elliot is appalled at the scene unfolding across the street from his home. He will be joining other neighbors next Saturday in having his well water tested, at his own expense.
Mendon police, members of the DEP, Tighe and Bond Engineering Firm representatives and the Conservation Commission have been digging through man-made hills, loam piles and wetlands for the past few days.
So far, they have found plastic, glass, metal, car parts, concrete, bricks, construction debris, asbestos and other hazardous waste buried on the lot.
Neighbors are doing their part by coming together, comparing water tastes, smells and colors and will be getting their water tested.
The neighbors are all worried that they will have to continually test the water for years, because they don t know how deep the chemicals go or how long it takes for them to seep into the groundwater. Or even if they may have already ingested some contaminated water.
I never knew how much water is important to us. Now I really know, said Brandon Elliot.
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MARYLAND
Westminster, Maryland - February 19, 2002 (Carroll County Times)
"Maryland's tap water may be putting women at risk of having pregnancies end in miscarriage or having children with birth defects, according to a report by two environmental groups (Public Interest Research Groups and Environmental Working Group).
14 communities in Maryland had a relatively high proportion of people projected to be at risk from using their local drinking water. The group arrived at its findings after reviewing data on tap water contaminated by trihalomethanes, one of the principal byproducts of chlorination. The Maryland Department of the Environment, Water Management Administration, provided these results."
The full report is available at: http://www.marypirg.org
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Baltimore, MD - March 4, 2002 (AP)
Drought has engulfed nearly a third of the United States, threatening to confront some places this summer with what experts say could be their worst water shortage in years.
Already, New York and Baltimore are pumping water from temporary supplies normally avoided for their potentially less desirable color or taste.
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MASSACHUSETTS
April, 2002 (Water Technology)
In late January, the Harvard University School of Public Health released a study that found alarmingly high concentrations of a little-known DBP, Mutagen X (MX), in Massachusetts drinking water.
The study, which evaluated the effects of different types of water treatment on mutagenic activity and DBP formation, analyzed water samples from 36 surface-water systems throughout Massachusetts. Researchers found that levels of MX, which studies on laboratory rats indicate may have an estimated cancer potency of 170 times greater than chloroform, were considerably higher than anticipated, especially when water was chlorinated.
However, the information likely never reached many Massachusetts residents and potential POU customers because Harvard would not disclose DBP and MX levels on a community-by-community basis.
It was surprisingly quiet and we did not get a lot of pick-up at all, said Kevin Myron, spokesman for the School of Public Health. Associated Press was going to do a story on it, but dropped it when we didn t release the community data.
Myron defends Harvard s choice not to release the data, which would have helped POU dealers provide targeted solutions to communities concerned about MX levels, saying the goal of the study was simply to identify various factors.
We understand we have to disinfect water or things get worse, but this study accepts that DBPs are dangerous, he said. Basically, we are encouraging water officials to look at treatment alternatives that can produce lower levels of DBPs.
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Boston, Massachusetts - January 22, 2002 (Ascribe News)
"Environmental epidemiologists from the Harvard School of Public Health analyzing tap water samples from 36 surface water systems throughout Massachusetts have found high levels of disinfection by-products (DBPs), which form during water treatment and transport, and a wide range of by-product activity in the water supplies they tested.
Using 88 tap water samples form 36 Massachusetts communities taken between spring 1997 and fall 1998, the researchers studied how the formation of DBPs is influenced by water treatment. Within the communities in the study, 24 used chlorine to disinfect the water supply with 10 of those towns chlorinating their water twice prior to distribution. One town used ozone and another used chlorine dioxide for disinfection. The remaining 12 used chloramine to disinfect their water supply. The researchers found that water that had been chlorinated multiple times prior to distribution was associated with higher THM levels and that THM levels are generally higher in the spring. "
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MICHIGAN
City water may have contaminants from Dow Chemical
Detroit, MI, June 5, 2002 (Water Tech Online)
State officials planned to test drinking water at 12 municipal water plants over concerns that contaminants up to 40 years old from a dredging site in the St. Clair River might have spread downstream.
Sediments in the river contain a range of chemicals dumped there over the years by a Dow Chemical Co. plant in Sarnia, Ontario, the Detroit News reported.
The state Department of Environmental Quality planned tests at intake pipes along three rivers to see if high levels of mercury and other heavy metals, as well as oils, gases and organic compounds, were stirred up during dredging.
About 6 million people in southeast Michigan get their drinking water from water treatment plants along the river and lake, said Doug Martz, chair of the Macomb Water Quality Board, which prompted the state to conduct the tests.
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Columbus, MI - October 25, 2001 (Water Tech Online)
"While miles apart geographically, the communities of Columbus, MI; Bossier City, LA; and Avoca, PA have similarities: they are primarily small rural communities that have similar high rates of some of the same types of cancer, birth defects and other serious health problems, according to Gibbons Law Firm.
Attorney Jim Gibbons alleges that the health problems are the direct result of operations at Kerr-McGee wood treatment facilities in all three communities.
Kerr-McGee’s wood treatment plants operate in the company’s Forest Products Division, which provides treatment for about 40 percent of the railroad crossties in the United States. Up until the mid-1970s, pentachlorophenol (PCP) was used to treat the wood at the Columbus plant. The use of PCP has since been discontinued.
PCPs contain substances that are toxic to humans, and additional toxic substances are produced throughout the treatment process. These chemicals include, but are not limited to, dioxin, lead, chromium, and benzene.
According to the lawyers representing the residents, these substances have been improperly handled and disposed of for years, contaminating the surface water and groundwater in the surrounding communities."
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Company recalls bottled water
Jackson, MI - July 24, 2002 (mlive)
A west Michigan company has recalled about 3,600 gallons of distilled water from 200 stores around the state, including about 15 in the Jackson area, at the request of the Michigan Department of Agriculture Foods Division and the FDA.
Bareman Dairy Inc. of Holland, Michigan recalled the water jugs after state inspectors determined it was not meeting quality standards for distilled water, said Sara Linsmeier-Wurfel, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
Janet Hamilton purchased water on July 14th and called Bareman within the week with complaints of stomachache and diarrhea. Also, her mouth felt hot and dry after drinking the water, which was kept in the refrigerator. Her symptoms lasted three days.
One of two company stills had an internal gasket failure that allowed some of the solids filtered from the water to re-enter the finished water stream causing a problem with odor and appearance, said Bob McDowell, a Bareman spokesperson.
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City water may have contaminants from Dow Chemical
Detroit, MI - June 5, 2002 (Water Tech Online)
State officials planned to test drinking water at 12 municipal water plants over concerns that contaminants up to 40 years old from a dredging site in the St. Clair River might have spread downstream.
Sediments in the river contain a range of chemicals dumped there over the years by a Dow Chemical Co. plant in Sarnia, Ontario, the Detroit News reported.
The state Department of Environmental Quality planned tests at intake pipes along three rivers to see if high levels of mercury and other heavy metals, as well as oils, gases and organic compounds, were stirred up during dredging.
About 6 million people in southeast Michigan get their drinking water from water treatment plants along the river and lake, said Doug Martz, chair of the Macomb Water Quality Board, which prompted the state to conduct the tests.
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Dioxin found downstream from the Dow Chemical Company
Saginaw, MI - March 15, 2002(Living on Earth)
Back in 1995, the state of Michigan began testing for dioxin in the area around Dow Chemical's headquarters in Midland. Dioxins make up a group of more than 200 chemicals that have been linked to such health problems as cancer, birth defects, and disruption of hormone and immune systems. The state did find elevated levels of dioxin on company grounds, as well as in nearby playgrounds and parks and a federal study was made of possible health effects, but little has been done to clean up the contamination. A few months ago, advocates led by the Michigan Environmental Council used the Freedom of Information Act to try to get some data. And so far, what they've found is sparking a lot of controversy.
Groups were looking for information on the city of Midland's contamination. But in the pile of papers they received back, there were references to extremely high dioxin levels in the Saginaw area 20 miles downstream from Dow headquarters. The problem was most of the information had been blacked out by the state, so they didn't really know what they were dealing with at that point.
Tracy Easthope from the Ecology Center said, A whistle blower faxed us anonymously a note and it gave us the map with the sites indicated, and next to that, the levels. Levels were as high as 7,200 parts per trillion. Just to give you an idea of that, the residential clean-up standard in Michigan is 90 (parts per trillion). So this was 80 times above what is considered safe, or an action level, in residences in Michigan.
In 1986, it rained for more than three weeks, and as a result, the Dow plant lost containment of its wastewater facility. Then the Tittabawassee River overflowed and carried this material downstream into the Saginaw flood plain. This is a plant that has made everything from mustard gas to saran wrap to Agent Orange, napalm and pesticides over the past hundred years.
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MINNESOTA
Contaminants found in Shagawa Road wells
Minnesota (zwire) September 29, 2002
What started out as a method to ensure that the removal of an underground petroleum storage tank would not contaminate nearby water, has become a larger mystery of well contamination.
A private firm was hired to replace a storage tank and test two nearby wells. What was found was not water contamination by oil or gas, but solvent contamination typically used in dry cleaning facilities, according to investigating officer Dave Scheer of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
Wells adjacent to Shagawa Lake have been found to contain Perchloroethylene or Tetrachloroethylene. “It was initially found in two wells at relatively high levels,” said Steve Leppala of the Emergency Response team of the MPCA, Duluth office. “We resampled and got similar results.”
According to the EPA guidelines, the maximum contaminant level, or MCL, of 5 micrograms per liter for perchloroethylene (equal to 5 parts per billion). One well tested at 17micrograms and the other tested at 4242 micrograms.
“All the wells are encased in bedrock so we don’t know where the contamination is coming from,” Leppala said.
The chemical is listed as a known carcinogen in the list of Volatile Organic Compounds. It can affect the eyes, skin, central nervous system and liver, according to Leppala.
“It’s just lucky” the testing was being done on the tank removal, Leppala said, “because I don’t know if you would have smelled or tasted it in the water.” It is unknown at this time how long the water contamination has existed.
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MISSOURI
Another toxic liquid turns up
St. Louis, MI - October 22, 2002 (Saginaw News)
A dark, smelly, toxic substance found in an excavated portion of the Pine River and at a former chemical plant site in St. Louis has environmental officials concerned.
The liquid is oozing out of the soil in several spots along the riverbank and a drained portion of the waterway where the EPA is conducting a $60 million superfund cleanup project.
Since then, however, it has moved to a number of other locations. Because the toxic goo is heavier than water, it migrates downward and travels through sand and gravel layers. Groundwater becomes contaminated by traveling over the substance. The EPA is working to contain the problem.
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NEVADA
Las Vegas, NV - April 4, 2001 (Las Vegas Review Journal)
"A Federal Study shows that Birth control pills, shampoos and other household items have chemicals that could be the reason for the problem in the Colorado River, endangering the razorback sucker. Scientists are continuing to study the problem since previous findings indicate the fish have natural estrogen and ethinyl estradiol, a synthetic hormone found in birth control pills. It appears that Lake Mead has a significant amount of these chemicals from human waste. "
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Henderson, Nevada - March 8, 2001 (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
Hair sample tests from some Henderson residents indicate exposure to abnormally high levels of heavy metals. Lead, mercury and benzene were off the charts according to one report. The Henderson toxic testing drive was started after a local man suffering from multiple sclerosis turned in a hair sample that showed he had mercury and uranium in his system. It is speculated that the source may be from soil and groundwater. Somewhere between 1996 and 1998 testing of soil and ground water showed high levels of toxicity. Tom Roe (whose son died of leukemia two years ago at age 16) said he’s aware of seven cancer cases in his neighborhood and is curious to know whether they’re linked to contaminants in soil. Reports also show that Tap water samples taken last year contained carbon tetrachloride, a suspected cancer-causing agent that can damage the liver, kidney and nervous system.
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Webster, NH - February 17, 2002 (Concord Monitor)
By every scientific measure and law on the books, the water at John and Nancy Ceriello s home is safe to drink, even if it does contain traces of the harmful gasoline additive MTBE. Although it failed to meet state standards for the contaminant last summer, their well water has been improving since, and recent tests show it is just inside the safe zone now.
Still the Ceriellos challenge anyone who suggests the problem is resolved. Would you let your kids drink the water? asks John Ceriello, who has two teenage children at home. When I say that, they just kind of go quiet.
Like hundreds of families across New Hampshire, the Ceriellos find themselves at the heart of a raging debate over MTBE. The additive helps improve air quality and is required throughout the Northeast to comply with the federal Clean Air Act. Yet, increasingly, it is also turning up in public and private water supplies due to leaking underground gas tanks and accidental spills.
About 14% of New Hampshire s public drinking water supplies show signs of MTBE, and state officials say the percentage of private wells is probably higher. So far, the state has paid for water filtration systems at 80 homes where the sources of MTBE contamination cannot be traced. More than 100 other private wells are being monitored.
For the complete story, - http://www.concordmonitor.com/stories/front2002/mtbe_mon8417_2002.shtml
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State of NH - March 4, 2002 (AP)
Drought has engulfed nearly a third of the United States, threatening to confront some places this summer with what experts say could be their worst water shortage in years.
Thousands of shallow wells in New Hampshire and Georgia have run dry.
Overall, drought has spread to about 30 percent of the country, according to forecaster Richard Tinker at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
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NEW JERSEY
Companies Will Pay for Polluting New Jersey Water
TRENTON, New Jersey - November 25, 2002,(ENS)
Nineteen polluters will together pay a total of $3 million to compensate the state of New Jersey and East Hanover Township for contamination of the local drinking water supply.
The ground water contamination was first discovered in East Hanover Township in the early 1980s, when volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were detected in a water sample collected from a municipal supply well. Further testing showed that the contamination had spread to cover a 10 square mile area of the Morris County community.
"This year's drought emergency highlights the urgency of protecting the public interest in clean water. As trustee of water resources, we are aggressively stepping up efforts, which are long overdue, to follow through with that important mandate," said New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) commissioner Bradley Campbell.
After the contamination was discovered, a treatment system was installed on the supply well. The DEP sampled 127 private drinking water wells in the township to evaluate the extent of the ground water contamination, finding that several of the potable wells were contaminated with VOCs at levels exceeding New Jersey Drinking Water Standards, and many others had lower levels of contamination.
Between 1998 and 1999, the DEP and the township connected about 240 properties with private wells to the existing water supply system and extended water lines to one area.
The DEP identified several industrial sites as possible sources of the contamination, and pursued a variety of companies for compensation. "We intend to pursue vigorously those who pollute our air and water and do harm to our state's valuable natural resources," said New Jersey acting attorney general Peter Harvey.
The DEP is now expanding its natural resource damage program to include more contaminated sites. In the last nine months alone, DEP has reached more than $8.1 million in natural resource damage settlements, an amount greater than reached in the previous six years.
"I was astounded to find on taking office in January that the Department had not pursued, or left unsettled, thousands of cases against polluters responsible for a wide range of damages to New Jersey's natural resources," said Campbell. "We are putting this program back on track and are committed to aggressively pursuing damage settlements for the residents of this state who have lost the ability to use and enjoy some of our most precious natural resources, including drinking water sources and wetlands."
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The danger beneath Buried tanks leak chemicals
New Jersey - September 22, 2002, (North Jersey News)
In North Haledon, residents of five homes around a contaminated gas station site have individual water filters due to gasoline contamination.
And in Vernon, it’s the same contamination story for more than a dozen properties near a gasoline station.
These and thousands of other cases statewide have underground water supplies progressively poisoned over many years as the state’s environmental agency and polluters traded paperwork and argued over who should do something about the growing problems.
The state’s own files make clear that no one knows the true extent of underground pollution anywhere until it shows up in somebody’s water supply.
So many leaks and spills have tainted groundwater in North Jersey that drilling new wells is no longer an option in many communities, said David Terry, a hydrology consultant for many New Jersey municipalities. At the moment, a list of known contaminated sites, one site per line, fills an 871 page document published by the state.
The state has 12,648 documented sites contaminated by gasoline additives, industrial chemicals, and other cancer-causing substances. Of those, at least 9,000 are still polluting groundwater.
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Landfill not to blame for polluted wells
Franklin Township - September 10, 2002 (New Jersey Online)
Recent tests of drinking water indicate a closed landfill is not the source of chemicals that have polluted wells in the Franklin Township s New Village section.
A combination of an industrial solvent and chemicals found in gasoline point toward a service station as the source of the pollution, township environmental consultant Frank Leary said.
According to the Warren County Health Department, 13 wells in the New Village section have tested positive for trichloroethylene since February.
Of those, nine show levels above the state limit of one part per billion of the solvent once used for dry cleaning and still used to degrease metal machine parts.
Leary said the combination of TCE and MTBE and tertiary butyl alcohol found in the polluted wells may indicate the contamination comes from a site where vehicles or machines are repaired.
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Pompton Lakes, N.J. - September 26, 2001 (The Record)
"Scientists working for lawyers suing Du Pont Chemicals told more than 300 Pompton Lakes residents that contamination in their town was the same as, if not worse than, that depicted in the movie “Erin Brockovich.”
The four scientists, said the cancer rate was 16 times more than the national average among borough residents ages 18 to 65.
State Department of Environmental Protection officials have said the chemicals found in a municipal well – lead, mercury, and members of the chloroethylene and chloroethane families – all meet drinking water safety standards set by the government.
David Woodhouse, a hydrogeologist, said that chemicals from Du Pont seeped throughout the township over decades. “I think the whole town is contaminated. I think if you drill anywhere in town, you’ll find contamination.”
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NEW YORK
Oil firm, town at odds over MTBE leak
Fort Montgomery, NY - November 7, 2002 (Times Herald-Record)
Sunoco has shut down its Fort Montgomery station with plans to yank the gas tanks out of the ground due to a large MTBE spill that has affected local wells.
The leak was first discovered in 2000, and then reappeared in early 2002. Sunoco knew about the second leak a month before the Orange County Health Department revealed it to the public.
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Construction turns tap water brown on Staten Island
Staten Island, NY - October 26, 2002 (ny1.com)
Many residents on Staten Island are not convinced that discolored tap water the city Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) says is safe is safe to drink.
The water turned brown from silt that seeped in during construction on one of the borough’s water mains, according to the DEP.
Although the problem was fixed, many residents were stocking up on bottled water.
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City tap water looks positively H2O-dious
New York, NY, October 13, 2002 (NY Post)
The troubled New Croton reservoir system has been blamed for recent reports of discolored tap water in the city.
More than 400 city residents flooded the Department of Environmental Protection with complaints in a 24-hour period last month after brownish water flowed from their taps.
The calls came from homes in the South Bronx, Harlem and the lower East and West Sides of Manhattan, DEP officials confirmed.
DEP says the problem arose because low reservoir levels, caused by this year’s drought, forced the DEP to draw more water than usual from New Croton dams.
The New Croton system, which gets about 1.6 million gallons of treated waste water per day from the Yorktown sewage treatment plant, was not used from 1999-2001 because rains associated with Hurricane Floyd caused raw sewage and other pollutants to spill into the system.
Under an agreement with the feds, the city must choose a site to build a filtration plant for New Croton water by next April and begin filtering by 2010.
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Suffolk, NY - April 1, 2002 (newsday.com)
Tests of wells near areas where there has been high pesticide use continue to show contamination in the groundwater, according to a draft report.
From April 2000 through March 2001, pesticides were found in about half the 834 private wells tested, said Martin Trent, chief of the Suffolk bureau of groundwater resources. There were 323 wells that had more than one pesticide compound; 131 contained five or more.
Many of the contaminants discovered were new compounds created by the breakdown of pesticides. It is unclear what cumulative effect, if any, combinations of the different compounds have.
The tests detected 52 pesticides and compounds created by the breakdown of pesticides. For 37 of the new compounds there is no specific drinking water standard.
Debra O Kane, executive director of the North Fork Environmental Council, said there should be more public education to let residents who rely on private well water know the risks.
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Troy, NY - April 6, 2001 (Water Tech Online)
"The Hudson River has polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), a suspected carcinogen, and the EPA will decide if they should dredge as much as 77 tons of the PCBs from 40-miles of the upper Hudson River.
GE opposes the EPA dredging plan and is spending millions in a media campaign to persuade against it. A decision will probably not be made until August. "
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Albany, NY, April 6, 2001 (ENS)
"Mammals such as mink and river otters that live near the Upper Hudson River Valley have been exposed to PCBs. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in association with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Fish and Wildlife Service is involved in a study on this issue. General Electric has facilities along the upper Hudson River and has been blamed for much of the PCB contamination They continue to challenge an EPA order to begin a $500 million cleanup. "
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New York State - March 4, 2002 (AP)
Drought has engulfed nearly a third of the United States, threatening to confront some places this summer with what experts say could be their worst water shortage in years.
Already, New York and Baltimore are pumping water from temporary supplies normally avoided for their potentially less desirable color or taste.
Overall, drought has spread to about 30 percent of the country, according to forecaster Richard Tinker at the Climate Prediction Center of the National Weather Service.
With about half of the normal 23 inches of precipitation over the past six months, New York City's reservoirs have sunk to 48 percent of capacity. Water managers have doubled the share used from the New Croton Reservoir actually an older system to 20 percent, though people sometimes complain of its darker color and unpleasant smell.
Complicating water management, a slight increase in two common diarrhea causing microorganisms, giardia and cryptosporidium, has been detected in the untreated water from the New Croton and Kensico reservoirs, environmental officials say. Chlorinated water is deemed safe for the general population, but doctors were warned to advise New York City area residents with weak immune systems to boil water.
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NORTH CAROLINA
Sisters want civilians informed of contaminated water at Camp Lejeune
Wilmington, NC - September 30, 2002, (The Charlotte Observer)
Two Wilmington sisters who grew up at Camp Lejeune want to make sure that civilians, as well as members of the military, are informed that water at the base was contaminated for decades.
Terry Dyer and Karen Strand lived on the base for 15 years while their father was a principal at a base elementary school. Their father suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 45, three months after they moved off base, the sisters said.
The women have suffered myriad medical conditions they believe may be related to the water on the base. They want other civilians who lived on the base or used its water to register on their web site.
The first letter of commiseration they received was from a 29-year-old with inoperable cancer. One such case may not sound odd, Dyer said, “but when you hear it over and over and over again, you stand up and take notice.
The water at Camp Lejeune was inadvertently spiked with tetrachloroethylene, also called perchloroethylene, and trichloroethylene.
The contamination was discovered in 1980 when an Army environmental team sampled the water and found unidentified chlorinated hydrocarbons. The chemicals were identified as commercial solvents in 1982, but the wells weren’t capped until 1985.
Three years ago, the Marine Corps started surveying the parents of the estimated 10,000 children born at Camp Lejeune between 1968 and 1985, because the compounds had been linked to birth defects and childhood cancers such as leukemia.
Dyer and Strand think the study should include non-military babies and should go back as far as 1953 or 1954 when a dry cleaner set up shop, dumping chemicals 500-900 feet from a base well. Dyer and Strand are using their own web site to register all civilian’s babies, children and adults who were on the base between 1953 and 1985.
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State accused of being lax on water protection
July 24, 2002, Charlotte, NC (Water Tech Online)
This state's enforcement of water-protection law suffers from staff shortages, lack of legislative support and too-friendly relationships with violators, an environmental group said.
Hundreds of water quality violations by facilities with permits to discharge wastewater are never pursued, according to Clean Water for North Carolina, the Charlotte Observer reported.
Enforcement lapses don't protect the public, and set a standard of low expectations for violators, the group said.
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OHIO
Beavercreek, OH - April 6, 2001 (Water Tech Online)
"The EPA is seeking more information about the extent of contamination in Beavercreek subdivision near the former site of a factory. Another investigation will be done on that site. Apparently, the soil below the site is worse than thought."
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Cincinnati, OH - March 1, 2002 (ENS)
Exposure to lead in childhood could lead to antisocial or even criminal behavior in adults, a new study suggests. The first comprehensive lead study to track children over a period of time found that both prenatal and postnatal exposure to lead were associated with antisocial behavior in children and adolescents.
It appears that the neurodevelopmental effects of this avoidable environmental disease of childhood may not be limited to declines in IQ or academic abilities, said Dr. Kim Dietrich, associate director of Cincinnati Children s Environmental Health Center and lead author of the study.
Adolescents with the highest blood lead concentrations when they were first graders reported, on average, 4.5 more delinquent acts (than) children with the lowest blood lead concentrations as first graders, said Dietrich.
The researchers found that exposure to lead was associated with antisocial behavior, even after adjusting for other factors that could lead to similar behavior. These included quality of home environment, low birth weight, parental intelligence and social class.
These reports join a growing body of evidence linking lead to health, cognitive, and behavioral problems in children. In the U.S., almost a million children under the age of six suffer from lead poisoning.
Lead exposure can cause permanent damage to the brain and other organs. Research shows that children with elevated blood lead levels are seven times more likely to drop out of school and twice as likely to lose a few years in language acquisition.
Drinking water that comes from lead pipes or lead soldered fittings is among the number of ways in which children and adults may be exposed to lead.
For this story: - http://ens.lycos.com/ens/mar2002/2002L-03-01-06.html
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OREGON
Business Oppose Expensive Filtration
Portland, OR - December 6, 2002, (Oregonian)
The Portland Water Users Coalition says the $202 million proposal to filter Bull Run Reservoir water is too expensive and too risky. The coalition wants the city to pursue a cheaper alternative given the tough economic times.
The Portland Water Bureau is planning for expected mandates on controlling cryptosporidium, a potentially lethal parasite. One recommendation was a $202 million membrane filter plant.
The city panel rejected ultraviolet light treatment, projected to cost $55 million, saying it would kill microbes but accomplish little else. Portland also has a mud runoff problem that needs solutions.
Membrane filtration