County Drinking Water Tests Show Traces of Harmful Chemicals at Many Sites (ALERT)

By Kristin S. Agostoni and Melissa Evans Staff Writers

Posted: 07/19/2011 07:33:24 PM PDT

Updated: 07/19/2011 07:39:52 PM PDT

Drinking water samples collected from nearly 800 Los Angeles County facilities showed traces of metals and harmful chemicals at many sites, while water at four locations contained levels of arsenic and lead that exceeded recommended health standards, a study has found. 

Water with the highest concentrations of arsenic was collected from a juvenile probation camp in Lancaster, where levels were measured at roughly seven times the recommended maximum threshold, the report states. 

And while the analysis did not find any sites where water samples exceeded the threshold for two forms of chromium, some maintain that public health standards need to be updated so that each form can be evaluated on its own. 

The analysis - requested by Supervisor Michael Antonovich to compare contaminant levels in drinking water to those in a similar report 10 years ago - looked at an array of facilities, including parks, libraries, fire stations and offices, including sites in the South Bay. 

All are places where county employees work, and which could be open to the general public, said Ken Pellman of the county Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures, which took the water samples from the tap and tested them in its South Gate laboratory. 

Many local test locations showed detectable levels of lead, arsenic and chromium, but well below what the state considers harmful to a person's health. 

The results were presented Tuesday to the Board of Supervisors in a 31-page summary that includes a breakdown of facilities by city, along with addresses for the sites where exceedances were discovered.

Antonovich pointed to an increase in the amount of chromium in county water over the past 10 years; in 2001, 14.8 percent of sources showed various levels of chromium, compared to 43.5 percent of sources in 2011. 

Based on the report findings, he said it was alarming that "instead of the water getting better, some of our facilities have increased levels of contaminants, not decreased." 

Some environmental groups maintain that the state needs to accelerate efforts to set safe drinking water standards for hexavalent chromium (chromium 6), which is believed to pose a greater risk to human health than the other form of the metal measured, trivalent chromium. 

While the state has an established threshold for total chromium - which includes both forms - it has yet to adopt safe standards for hexavalent chromium, which is believed to cause certain forms of cancer.

The state determines acceptable levels of contaminants by pitting the cost and process of removing contaminants with the human health risk that they pose over an average life span of 70 years, said Angelo Bellomo, director of environmental protection for the County Department of Public Health. 

So far, no accepted level has been established for hexavalent chromium, but the county is using 0.25 parts per billion as a threshold. 

"It's a conundrum for water agencies right now," said Rebecca Sutton, a senior scientist in the Oakland office of the nonprofit Environmental Working Group. "We know the stuff is bad, but we don't know to what level we need to treat water" because no legal limits have been established. 

The effort to set public health guidelines for hexavalent chromium has taken years, and dragged on past a January 2004 deadline established by state legislation three years prior, said Andria Ventura, program manager for Clean Water Action in San Francisco. 

Her organization supports a recommendation from the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment to establish a public health standard of 0.02 parts per billion for hexavalent chromium in drinking water. 

"It's time that we move forward to put the health of the people of California first," Ventura said. "It's very hard for communities that are impacted to know what to do." 

Bellomo said it's difficult to pin down the exact source of any toxin detected. For example, arsenic is a naturally occurring contaminant that could have come from a number of different water sources. 

And Pellman, the agricultural commissioner's spokesman, said the tap water samples could point to issues with piping in the facilities, not necessarily the groundwater supply. He said individuals concerned about the quality of their water could provide samples to the department's lab and have them tested. 

In the report, officials note particularly high levels of arsenic, 70 parts per billion, in the vicinity of Camp Challenger in Lancaster, a juvenile camp run by the county Probation Department. The state and federal standard for drinking water is 10 parts per billion. 

The water sampled there also showed high levels of hexavalent chromium, about 12 parts per billion, the report states. 

Since the release of that report, two facilities with the highest levels - Challenger and Fire Station 122 - have turned off all their water fountains, and required the use of bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth. Challenger hosts 308 juvenile offenders and 270 staff members. 

Antonovich on Tuesday criticized the Department of Agricultural Commissioner/Weights & Measures for a delay in releasing the findings. 

Agricultural Commissioner Kurt Floren said the results were not released at the time of testing because they were intended for release with all the other results in the larger report. 

The county Health Department is also conducting testing of about 200 small well water systems through September. 

The board directed the agricultural department to report back in 45 days with additional samples and a side-by-side comparison of contaminant levels from 2001 to 2011.