Agencies ordered to cut arsenic in water

Eleven face fines, including three in the Valley.

Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2008

The federal government has ordered three Valley water agencies to cut arsenic levels by 2010 or face hefty fines.

The order, made public Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency, comes as small water systems struggle to comply with tighter standards to control arsenic, a naturally occurring mineral known to cause cancer.

Eleven California water agencies face fines, including Tranquillity Irrigation District and Riverdale Public Utility District in Fresno County and Armona Community Service District in Kings County. The three central San Joaquin Valley agencies provide drinking water to a combined 6,559 residents.

Public water supplies must contain no more than 10 parts of arsenic per billion. The new rule was issued in 2001 as federal scientists concluded that the old standard of 50 parts per billion did not do enough to protect public health.

Arsenic is found in rocks and soil and has long-plagued some Valley communities that rely on groundwater. The mineral can enter drinking water naturally or as a byproduct of agriculture or industrial activities, according to the EPA.

Studies have linked long-term arsenic exposure to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidney, nasal passages, liver, and prostate. Recent studies have even suggested a connection between low-level arsenic exposure and Type 2 diabetes.

Water systems had until January 2006 to meet the new standard, but the fines won't kick in until 2010, EPA officials said. By then, the agencies must meet the new standard or at least have an EPA-approved plan in place to get there. Violators face fines of up to $32,500 per day.

"So far, all the systems appear that they are going to meet that date," said Everett Pringle, an EPA enforcement official.

But to comply, some agencies will have to invest millions of dollars into new wells or treatment equipment.

In Riverdale, a small farming community in the west Valley, arsenic readings have ranged from 25 parts per billion to 39 parts per billion, the highest of the three Valley agencies, according to the EPA.

The district is seeking a $5 million state grant to pay for a filtration plant, said Ronald Bass, the district's superintendent. Customers were also recently hit with a rate increase, from $16.15 a month to $24 a month to help pay for arsenic cleanup, he said.