Glendale will begin using chromium water Level of chemical, at one part per billion, is within all federal and state health standards. Los Angeles Times - 7/13/01 By Alex Coolman, staff writer GLENDALE -- The city will soon begin delivering to residents drinking water containing minute amounts of chromium 6, a move that comes after months of wrangling with environmental officials and local water regulators. Glendale plans to start using the water on July 23, City Manager Jim Starbird said. The water will come in part from the San Fernando aquifer, which contains low levels of chromium 6, a substance that can be carcinogenic when inhaled. The health effects of ingesting chromium 6 are not known. Under a plan announced Thursday, water drawn from the aquifer will be blended with water from the Metropolitan Water District. What eventually comes out of customer's taps, Starbird said, will have about 1 part per billion of chromium 6. That level of the chemical is well within the California standard for total chromium in drinking water -- which is set at 50 parts per billion -- and is lower than the California "health goal" of 2.5 parts per billion. The health goal is considered an extremely strict standard. The decision to take water from the aquifer comes after months of discussion with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Fernando Valley water master over the best way to address the chromium in the water. Glendale has for months elected to deal with the chromium problem by dumping the aquifer water in the Los Angeles River, but neither regulatory agency has been pleased with the situation. The EPA pushed Glendale to keep pumping water out of the aquifer. The city entered into a 1998 agreement to take the water as part of a Superfund cleanup of volatile organic compounds in the aquifer water, and the EPA has been eager to see the city follow through on its commitment. David Stensby, EPA project manager, characterized Glendale's latest plan as a positive step toward dealing with that cleanup. "I think everybody will benefit in terms of the progress that's being made," he said. Mel Blevins, the water master for the San Fernando Valley, has fought Glendale on its water dumping because of his legal obligation to prevent waste of the resource. He said he was not satisfied with Glendale's new approach because it will still require some high-chrome water to be dumped. Glendale plans to spend about $800,000 in the months to come on treating water from wells that pull up high levels of chromium 6. Once treated, Starbird said, the water can be used for irrigation and industrial purposes rather than being dumped. But until that happens, Blevins said, Glendale will be wasting water. "The bottom line is, it's safe to drink 50 parts per billion [of chromium 6]," he said. In addition to immediate spending on treatment for high-chrome wells, Glendale also plans to spend between $6 million and $9 million over the next three years on a plant that will be able to treat all of the aquifer water, Starbird said. Water rates will be affected by the new treatment plan. Though the price of water service is not expected to rise during the three years of treatment plant construction, Starbird said the price will stay steady when it would have otherwise decreased. Over the long term, officials expect the treatment plan to economically benefit the city by reducing its dependence on purchases made from the Metropolitan Water District.# ===== Check out the Chico Examiner listserves at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DisorderlyConduct http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ChicoLeft Subscribe to the Chico Examiner for only $40 annually or $25 for six months. Mail cash or check payabe to "Tim Bousquet" to POBox 4627, Chico CA 95927 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
