0 The city of Dayton says its drinking water is clean and safe, but a growing number of residents lack confidence in the purity of the city’s tap water.
Fears about water contamination spread when the city of Dayton shut down some production wells last year after potentially hazardous chemicals were detected in the groundwater.
“ … Drinking water quality in the Dayton region – and throughout Ohio – is excellent.” Worries about chemicals Three months ago, the city said for the first time that treated water leaving its Ottawa Water Treatment Plant in March had PFAS at a level of 7 to 13 parts per trillion (ppt).
The water remains in compliance with federal and state drinking water regulations, and the reported levels are well below the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s current health advisory level of 70 ppt, a city of Dayton spokeswoman said.
“Public water systems are highly regulated,” said Pierce, with the Ohio EPA.
Dayton’s extensive monitoring well program goes beyond state requirements by monitoring for unregulated contaminants like PFAS, according to the Ohio EPA.
The survey began in mid-May, before the the city of Dayton and Montgomery County notified thousands of customers that PFAS were detected in the treated drinking water.
All older homes should be tested for lead, and local governments need to ensure water testing is available for low-income families, including rental properties, McGowin said.
The city of Dayton offers free testing and says last year it analyzed 173 water samples and detected lead in 21 of them.
The levels of lead were far below the Ohio EPA’s maximum contaminant levels, which are concentrations that put people at risk of adverse health effects.

Health officials are finding traces of PFAS chemicals in public water systems statewide, but the City of Kalamazoo water supply tested below the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) health advisory levels, said Kalamazoo College Facilities Management.
According to Lindemann, officials tested 15 pumping stations in Kalamazoo this June; 12 stations had no detectable levels of PFAS contamination, but three did test positive for traces of the chemicals, albeit below the EPA guideline of 70 parts per trillion.
They’re found in everyday items, like food packaging, household cleaners, clothing fabrics, and pizza boxes.
The chemical group never breaks down and can accumulate over time in areas like drinking water—and living organisms.
Limited findings relate this toxic chemical group to low infant birth rate, thyroid disruption, and cancer.
In May, health officials confirmed that water samples tested above the EPA limit in the nearby towns of Richland and Battle Creek, according to the DEQ webpage.
The Kalamazoo Gazette reported in August that Parchment city officials will connect their city’s water to the Kalamazoo water system for at least one year.
As for Kalamazoo college students, Facilities Management stresses that while there is no need for concern, it is always good to be cautious.
For those who are still concerned, Lindemann suggests they go to the City of Kalamazoo’s website and read the water testing results for themselves.
More information about the PFAS chemical group can be found on the EPA’s website, and updates on the PFAS testing sites in Michigan can be found at michigan.gov/pfasresponse.

“The school is like a second home, so we wanted to do something that would benefit not just the current students, but all the students to come,” said Jessica Tapia, 18, last year’s student government secretary who graduated in June and attends York College.
“They have water fountains, but the water is not clean.
“The students and parents of The International High School @ Prospect Heights still believe in the American Dream,” a fundraising flyer read.
Last week, the city Department of Education said 391 schools — about a quarter of all campuses — still have 1,165 water outlets with lead above 15 ppb.
Last year, 83 percent of schools had fixtures with lead-tainted water.
At International HS, lab tests on Aug. 16 found lead levels of 15.9 ppb and 17 ppb coming out of the brand-new $5,100 water station, records show.
Students told The Post they still avoid the old fountains, instead paying $1 to $1.50 a day for bottled water.
“I just don’t like the taste of it.” Fellow senior Paola Arroyo, 17, who also pitched in, said water from the old fountains “tastes kind of weird.” But when her bottle is empty, she has no choice.
“If you’ re thirsty, you don’t think about it — you just drink it,” she said.
Chancellor Richard Carranza said in a statement, “Water in New York City schools is safe for students and staff to drink, and all fixtures in DOE schools currently in use for cooking or drinking tested within the state’s standard.

Nearly a year after the Tubbs fire melted water pipes in Fountaingrove and contaminated sections of the area’s water system with benzene, the city is optimistic it will soon be able to notify residents the problem has been resolved.
The most recent tests made before another round of repairs showed only trace amounts of the cancer-causing chemical in the area’s water system, at levels under state-mandated safety limits, according to Jennifer Burke, the city’s deputy director of water and engineering resources.
Worrisome levels of benzene were also detected in some surrounding areas as far out as Coffey Park as the city attempted to find the mysterious source of the benzene, spurring additional attention and replacement of water lines.
Anticipating the test results will show the contamination problem has been resolved, the city is hosting a community meeting Wednesday night to explain its plans moving forward.
The water quality advisory could be lifted as soon as early October, Burke said.
That’s in stark contrast from prior concerns the entire water system would need replacing, at a cost estimated at more than $40 million earlier this summer.
The overhaul would need two years if done quickly, city officials said, putting a cloud over rebuilding efforts in the area.
Burke said the work cost roughly $8 million.
If that funding is not available, a bill authored by Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, would steer FEMA mitigation dollars toward rebuild projects from the 2017 wildfires.
Once the water advisory is lifted, Burke said the city’s water department will continue benzene testing for at least a year to make sure residents are safe.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sens.
Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., and U.S. Rep Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., secured funding to remedy the contamination of drinking water in Martinsburg, which was caused by the use of perfluorooctanic acid in aqueous film forming foams used by the Air National Guard to suppress fires.
The funding is included in the compromise spending bill between the House and the Senate, securing its passage.
“In 2016, when Martinsburg and other West Virginia communities were faced with the daunting news that their drinking water sources had been contaminated with unacceptable levels of PFOA, I started working with federal agencies and Martinsburg officials to find a solution to this problem.
This action is long overdue, but I am excited that Martinsburg will finally be reimbursed for the cleanup costs and infrastructure upgrades following the detection of unacceptable levels of PFOA in the water supply,” Manchin said.
“The reopening of the Big Springs Water Plant was so critical to residents, businesses, and the entire Martinsburg community; and it’s important that we ease the financial burden the city incurred as it worked to do so,”Capito said.
“As a member of the Appropriations Committee, I’ve worked hard alongside my West Virginia delegation colleagues–as well as with federal, local, and military leaders–to find a solution to the Big Springs situation, and I’m thrilled we were finally able to deliver a fix through this government funding agreement.” “Glad to work with my colleagues in Congress to secure this funding reimbursement for the City of Martinsburg to ensure clean drinking water and to aid in the effort to clean up pollution,” Mooney said.
Last week, Manchin, Capito and Mooney sent a letter to the House and Senate Conference Committee, urging them to keep the funding in the final spending package.
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They say people should avoid gathering food such as watercress in the area and anyone who lives near the airport and who does not tap into the city water supply should be careful.
The city’s water supply is unaffected.
* Testing shows surface water and soil contaminated near Palmerston North Airport * Testing for contamination begins at commercial airports after banned firefighting foam found * Toxic foam found in fire trucks and storage at three more commercial airports * Nationwide investigation into toxic firefighting foam launched​ Horizons Regional Council chief executive Michael McCartney said the next step was to do further testing to determine the extent of the contamination.
"The key thing for us next is to find out how far it’s gone.
Officials were doing work to identify if there was any groundwater in the area or shallow bores.
"The indication is there’s not many, if any."
Testing began in December at Ōhakea and Woodbourne military bases after it was revealed high levels of the chemicals from firefighting foams had contaminated nearby water supplies.
The problem has since spread.
Samples were taken from land at Palmerston North Airport earlier in the year after it was confirmed foam containing banned chemicals was found in fire trucks and in storage at the airport, as well as at airports in Napier and Gisborne.
"We moved pretty quick and getting it right’s really important and if it takes a day or two that’s the wise thing to do."

Image Lead contamination has been an ongoing crisis in New York City’s public housing, and the Education Department said on Tuesday that it continues to be an issue in schools as well.
About 25 percent of the city’s 1,500 schools now have at least one water fixture with elevated lead levels, down from 83 percent of schools last year.
The remaining 435 water sources, which were used for cooking or drinking, have been turned off, Miranda Barbot, an Education Department spokeswoman, said.
The first stage of testing was completed in 2017.
The de Blasio administration has been criticized in the last few months for its handling of lead paint in its deteriorating public housing.
Though the city had previously said 19 children in public housing had tested positive for elevated levels of lead, the city’s Department of Health said that 820 children younger than 6 living in Nycha housing had elevated levels of lead.
Earlier this year, federal prosecutors found that “accountability often does not exist” at the beleaguered housing authority.
At some of the schools in the city’s report, more fixtures were found to be contaminated in the latest round of testing.
There are 27 fixtures with elevated lead levels at Harry S. Truman High School in the Baychester section of the Bronx, but only 11 water sources were found to have high levels of lead when they were first tested in early 2017.
At I.S 104 in Manhattan, 25 water sources tested above the lead threshold in the latest round of testing, but just three water sources had elevated lead when the school was tested in January 2017.

SOUTH BERWICK, Maine — The Town Council discussed water contamination at its meeting Tuesday.
The council was informed of the well’s contents on Monday, Sept. 10.
The same contamination issue plagued the Hooper Sands area in the late 1990s, according to Kareckas.
“For a couple of years, people in the area had to drink bottled water,” he said.
Councilor Mallory Cook asked if contamination may be more widespread “than it was before.” “It is a possibility,” Councilor Russell Abell said.
Such an ordinance would require residents to use water supplied by the town’s Water Department.
In addition, any building permits issued for the Hooper Sands area would require the installation of town water.
Abell urged research be conducted on who is responsible for dealing with the contamination issue.
Town Manager Perry Ellsworth said “testing of other (water) wells in the vicinity” will be undertaken by the town.
Sealed bids at a minimum of $100,000 will be opened at the council’s Oct. 23 meeting for the property’s remaining 9.5 acres.

A three-judge panel found that Dominion’s coal ash landfill and settling ponds didn’t qualify as a "point source" under the Clean Water Act because the arsenic flowed from sites through groundwater before reaching the Elizabeth River and Deep Creek.
Circuit courts have taken divergent approaches to questions of groundwater discharges and point sources in recent years.
Circuit Court of Appeals found earlier this year that Maui had violated the Clean Water Act when wastewater injected in underground wells reached the Pacific Ocean.
The court held that the groundwater served as a conduit, moving pollutants to a body of water under federal jurisdiction.
The 4th Circuit itself held earlier this year that pollution that moves into U.S. waters via groundwater can violate the Clean Water Act if plaintiffs show "a direct hydrological connection between ground water and navigable waters."
The panel distinguished today’s case by noting the diffuse way in which arsenic moved from Dominion’s landfill and ponds into groundwater.
The Sierra Club, represented by the Southern Environmental Law Center, brought the case against Dominion.
But the group noted that the 4th Circuit did not question the lower court’s finding that the arsenic contamination was tied to Dominion’s facility.
Nachy Kanfer, acting Eastern regional director for the Sierra Club, noted that the ruling has no bearing on other courts’ decisions finding that coal ash sites do trigger Clean Water Act jurisdiction.
Circuit Court of Appeals.

The Bainbridge Island, Bremerton, Central Kitsap, North Kitsap and South Kitsap districts have all voluntarily sampled drinking water at their schools in the past three years, responding, in part, to rules scheduled to take effect in 2017 requiring districts to test for lead (implementation of the requirement was delayed due to a lack in funding).
At 20 of those schools, fewer than 10 percent of fixtures tested produced results above the action level.
When fixtures produced samples with lead levels above the district’s threshold, the hardware was replaced and retested.
Why sample?
While lead levels were low at most Kitsap schools, health officials and school administrators say the aim of water sampling is to reduce overall lead exposure for students and staff.
That said, children 6 and younger are at the greatest risk for lead poisoning, and school taps and water fountains aren’t a major source of lead exposure.
Even new fixtures may pour water samples with elevated lead, but continued flushing typically lowers lead levels.
Fixtures are returned to service after producing samples lower than the action level.
At several schools — including Ordway Elementary on Bainbridge in 2016, Crownhill Elementary in Bremerton and Woodlands Elementary in Central Kitsap earlier this year — faucets were turned off and students and staff were provided with bottled drinking water until lead levels could be reduced.
Vlach at Central Kitsap School District said fixtures that produced water with very high lead levels tended to be faucets or fountains that were rarely, if ever, used by students and staff.