While the California State Water Resources Control Board found trichloropropane in 52 percent of the wells tested in Kern County, the maximum amount allowed in the state is minuscule.
California passed legislation last year requiring testing of the chemical and also setting a Maximum Contaminant Level standard of 5 parts per trillion, which is the equivalent of five drops of water in a body of water the size of five Olympic-sized swimming pools.
However, since the state began requiring testing in January, 50 water systems out of 367 in Kern County have detected TCP in some or all of their wells.
GEI provides consulting services for several Kern County clients relating to the TCP issue, including the City of Bakersfield and carrot producer Grimmway Farms.
Grimmway Farms found out from the new testing that some of its wells at two of its facilities in Arvin had higher than the state-allowed 5 parts per trillion of TPC.
The company took action, notifying employees not to drink the water and providing bottled water.
With the new state requirements, many local water purveyors are finding TCP levels higher than the state standards and are having to spend millions of dollars to bring their wells back up to standard.
The city has found above-standard levels in 35 of its wells and is currently in the process of filtering it out.
The city recently won an $82 million settlement in a lawsuit against Dow and Shell Chemical to help pay for the filters.
That number was set based on the threshold of human cancer risk.