AIR-cleaning gas chemical fouls drinking water wells
Associated Press, April 17, 1996, BAY AREA/CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES -The good-guy chemical in Southern California's air pollution war responsible for removing 520 tons of carbon monoxide daily - may be threatening ground water supplies, state regulators said. Methyl tertiary butyl ether has also helped reduce levels of cancer-causing benzene in gasoline.
But discovery of MTBE in three Santa Monica drinking water wells may force a rethinking of plans to clean contaminants in gas tanks. The state is spending $1 billion over 12 years to clean up leaking underground tank. MTBE, which has a paint thinner-like odor, is now in an estimated 90 percent of the state's gasoline as refineries meet increasingly stringent air pollution standards.
State water and health officials say more MTBE contamination will likely be discovered when testing for it becomes mandatory later this year.
'This shows that if you have gasoline stations and domestic water wells nearby, you definitely have to consider possible contamination," said Cliff Sharp, chief of field operations for the Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management.
John Fart, an engineer who heads a committee looking into the efficacy of the state's underground tank cleanup program, and several other experts said the Santa Monica discovery confirms their earlier belief that state water officials, backed by the Wilson administration, went too far when they announced plans three months ago to curtail the program.
The announcement was based on a stud that minimized the danger that leaking gas tanks posed to drinking water. Officials at the California Water Resources Control Board announced that the majority of more than 20,000 contaminated sites statewide probably would not have to be cleaned up after removal of leaking tanks. The board also recommended that its regional offices halt many cleanups more than 250 feet from drinking-water wells.
But the water boards hand-picked committee of academics and other experts believe the Santa Monica case reinforces their earlier beliefs that those recommendations were "simplistic ... and not supported by good science." Fart said,
The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory study used to justify the new policies focused on benzene. It found that the highly toxic hydrocarbon clings to soil and degrades naturally, or when cleanup crews apply natural substances, such as bacteria and oxygen. The dangers of MTBE, which moves much faster and is more persistent in ground water, were not considered.
'They totally ignored MTBEs, and our committee had clearly identified that as an important issue," Farr said. "I muss say, I think they did that purposefully to try to make a point that underground tank cleanups had gone overboard."
Lab researchers disputed the idea that they should have tended to the MTBE issue. They said research in other states has shown that drinking water is rarely contaminated by the additive.
The oil industry has spent an estimated $10 billion to retrofit its refineries to use MTBE.
"This chemical is great cleaning the air. It removes something like the equivalent of 3 million cars from the road," said Brian Johnson, Santa Monica's environmental programs coordinator. "But in the event it escapes beneath the surface, there are brand new concerns. There is no such thing as a free lunch when it comes to the environment."
The MTBE concentration at the Santa Monica wells reached as high as 590 parts per billion, well above the 35 parts per billion considered the threshold for concern.
Two wells were closed about two weeks ago and a third was shut off last week, forcing municipal water officials to switch to a greater mixture of water imported by the Metropolitan Water District from the Colorado River and Northern California.
Two gas stations about 500 yards front the wells could be the source of the contamination. Santa Monica will demand that the responsible party pay for cleanup and for the increased cost of importing water into Santa Monica, said Craig Perkins, the city's director of environmental and public works management.
Los Angeles Times contributed to this story.
Water Pollution Still a Problem, EPA Report Says 4 of 10 bodies of water too dirty, survey finds
Washington Post, DECEMBER 15,1995 San Francisco Chronicle
Nearly 40 percent of lakes, rivers and streams in the United States are too dirty for fishing and swimming in spite of major federal efforts to combat water pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency reported in a two-year study released yesterday.
The figures, consistent with a similar analysis of pollution in major water bodies issued in 1992, indicates that the battle for cleanup of the nation's waters remains far from won, EPA administrator Carol Browner said. "We are holding our own in controlling water pollution, but we need to make more progress," she said at a press conference. "To protect public health, we must be vigiant in protecting our waterways."
The study, drawing from data gathered in 1992 and 1993, industrial that agricultural runoff containing pesticide residues or other pollutants poses the biggest threat to some water bodies. Those sources contribute about 60 percent of the pollution found in rivers and half of pollution in lakes, the study said. Storm sewers and municipal sewage treatment plants are also major pollution sources, the study added.
Vice President Al Gore, who joined Browner in releasing the report, said GOP-proposed budget cuts would significantly hamper federal attempts to clean water bodies and provide safe drinking water.
Many Republican lawmakers have argued that federal environmental statutes impose an unduly heavy burden on industry and yield only modest improvements in the environment. The House of Representatives earlier this month voted to cut EPA funds by 22.5 percent from the amount requested by the administration for the coming fiscal year - 14 percent from fiscal 1995 spending levels. Yesterday, the Senate approved similar reductions.
EPA FINDINGS
These are among the problems with water quality found in the Environmental Protection Agency's survey:
• Nitrates used in fertilizers and phosphates from detergents are among the pollutants found most often in the bodies of water tested.
• Bacteria, apparently the result of high levels of sewage, constitute another major pollutant, representing more than one-third of the pollution found in rivers. Heavy levels of bacteria, which can cause illness in swimmers, make many of the bodies of water tested unswimmable.
• Excessive levels of silt, which can smother aquatic life, also are a major problem. They' were found in 34 percent of polluted rivers.
