Elevated bladder cancer risk in New England and arsenic in drinking water from private wells
originally posted on May 2, 2016
A new study has found that drinking water from private wells, particularly dug wells established during the first half of the 20th century, may have contributed to the elevated risk of bladder cancer that has been observed in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont for over 50 years. Other risk factors for bladder cancer, such as smoking and occupational exposures, did not explain the excess risk in this region. The study, by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, New Hampshire; the departments of health for Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont; and the U.S. Geological Survey, appeared May 2, 2016, in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Bladder cancer mortality rates have been elevated in northern New England for over half a century. The incidence of bladder cancer in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont has been about 20 percent higher than that in the United States overall. Rates are elevated among both men and women. A unique feature of this region is the high proportion of the population using private wells for their drinking water, which are not maintained by municipalities and are not subject to federal regulations. These wells may contain arsenic, generally at low to moderate levels. Previous studies have shown that consumption of water containing high concentrations of arsenic increases the risk of bladder cancer.
There are two possible sources of arsenic in the well water in northern New England. Arsenic can occur naturally, releasing from rock deep in the earth, and arsenic-based pesticides that were used extensively on crops such as blueberries, apples, and potatoes in the 1920s through the 1950s.
“Arsenic is an established cause of bladder cancer, largely based on observations from earlier studies in highly exposed populations,” said Debra Silverman, Sc.D., chief of the Occupational and Environmental Epidemiology Branch, NCI, and senior author on the study. “However, emerging evidence suggests that low to moderate levels of exposure may also increase risk.”
To explore the reasons for the higher rates of bladder cancer in northern New England, the researchers conducted a large study in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. They compared 1,213 people newly diagnosed with bladder cancer with 1,418 people without bladder cancer who lived in the same geographic areas as those who developed the disease. The researchers obtained information on known and suspected bladder cancer risk factors, including smoking, occupation, ancestry, use of wood-burning stoves, and consumption of various foods.
“Although smoking and employment in high-risk occupations both showed their expected associations with bladder cancer risk in this population, they were similar to those found in other populations,” said Silverman. “This suggests that neither risk factor explains the excess occurrence of bladder cancer in northern New England.”
Researchers estimated the total amount of arsenic each person had ingested through drinking water based on current levels and historical information. They found that increasing cumulative exposure was associated with an increasing risk of bladder cancer. When investigators focused on participants who had used private wells, they saw that people who drank the most water had almost twice the risk of those who drank the least. This association was stronger if dug wells had been used. Dug wells are shallow, less than 50 feet deep, and potentially susceptible to contamination from manmade sources. Most of the dug well use occurred a long time ago, during an era when arsenic concentrations in private well water were largely unknown. However, the risk was substantially higher if the dug well use began before 1960 (when application of arsenic-based pesticides was commonplace in this region) than if dug well use started later.
The major limitation of the study was the inability to precisely measure arsenic exposure in the water consumed by people over their entire lifetime, which made it challenging to accurately quantify the contribution of arsenic exposure to the excess risk of bladder cancer. In particular, there were no known measurement data on arsenic levels in well water in the region prior to the 1960s, when arsenic-based pesticides were in widespread use.
The likelihood of exposure to arsenic from dug wells has diminished in recent years because arsenic-based pesticides are no longer used. Also, dug well use is much less common now than in the past. However, possible current exposure to arsenic in drinking water through use of private wells drilled deeply into fractured bedrock is a potential public health concern. For reference, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established 10 micrograms per liter as the regulatory standard for arsenic in drinking water supplied by municipalities.
“There are effective interventions to lower arsenic concentrations in water,” said Silverman. “New England has active public health education campaigns instructing residents to test their water supply and to install and maintain filters if levels are above the EPA threshold. But we should emphasize that smoking remains the most common and strongest risk factor for bladder cancer, and therefore smoking cessation is the best method for reducing bladder cancer risk.”
The National Cancer Institute leads the National Cancer Program and the NIH’s efforts to dramatically reduce the prevalence of cancer and improve the lives of cancer patients and their families, through research into prevention and cancer biology, the development of new interventions, and the training and mentoring of new researchers. For more information about cancer, please visit the NCI website at http://www.cancer.gov or call NCI’s Cancer Information Service at 1-800-4-CANCER.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
EPA: Contaminated sediment five miles from Cleveland water intake
Cleveland Water to hold Monday press conference
-by Cynthia Holmberg, originally posted on May 2, 2016
CLEVELAND – Dredged materials from Lake Erie are migrating toward the raw water intake for Nottingham Treatment plant, one of four treatment plants in the Cleveland Water system, according to Cleveland Water.
San Marcos Drinking Water Fails Contamination Standards
by Max Gorden, originally posted on May 2, 2016
SAN MARCOS–Drinking water in one section of San Marcos recently violated state contamination standards.
The high levels of contamination were found at a sampling station at 2700 Centerpoint Road. City officials said the sampling station is one of the farthest from the San Marcos Water Treatment plant, which might have been a reason for the contamination. However, Assistant Director of Public Service-Water and Waste Water Division Jon Clack said the public was never at risk and the water was always safe to drink.
“This isn’t an immediate health concern,” Clack said. “These types of byproducts, if they’re in the water for extended, you know, many many years, you know, at high levels, that’s where the concern is.”
But San Marcos resident Jacob Honrud said the high levels of contaminants worried him. Honrud lives near the affected sampling station, and has a one-year-old baby boy in the house.
“Since he drinks that water and bathes in it, it’s a big concern of mine,” Honrud said. “Water is very important. It’s a life source.”
About 300 other customers around 2700 Centerpoint Road were also affected by the contaminants, caused by compounds created by organic matter and chlorine in the water. To fix the problem, city officials say they will install a flush valve in the area, increasing water flow and decreasing contaminant build-up. There will be another state-mandated water test sometime in the next few months.
Water contamination persists at Meeker Elementary School
posted on May 2, 2016
Students at Meeker Elementary School have been drinking bottled water for more than a month now, and if the building’s water contamination problems do not clear up through continued chlorination, the district said as a last resort, it may consider replacing the building’s piping to get rid of the bacteria.
Students at Meeker Elementary School have been drinking bottled water for more than a month now, and if the building’s water contamination problems do not clear up through continued chlorination, the district said as a last resort, it may consider replacing the building’s piping to get rid of the bacteria.
Since the total coliform contamination was discovered at Meeker on March 30 through routine water quality sampling, the district has continued to chlorinate the building’s pipes to wear away the layers of bacteria in the pipes.
Gerry Peters, the district’s facilities planning and management director, said while the district was optimistic after samples on April 25 came back clean, sampling a couple of days later revealed there was still total coliform in the school’s water supply.
“It’s a very low level of bacteria,” Peters said during Monday’s facilities meeting.
The contamination does not include e. Coli, thus indicating the problem was not caused by sewage issues. The bacteria likely got into the building’s pipes during construction. The new Meeker building opened last fall.
While city of Ames staff have said total coliform will not make anyone who drinks the water sick, the school’s students and staff have continued to drink bottled water donated by Lowe’s Home Improvement as an extra precaution.
Peters said in his continued research, he has found no other way to rid the piping of the bacteria besides chlorination. Peters said if the chlorination is unsuccessful, the last-ditch effort would be the replace the piping; however, Peters said that would have to wait until school is out for the summer at the end of May because this would require shutting off all water to the school.
Peters said before he could feel confident the bacteria has been eradicated, he would have to see four consecutive negative tests and then monitor for an additional three weeks.
Also discussed at Monday’s facilities meeting was the continued discussions the district is having with the city, Iowa State University, Mary Greeley Medical Center and Heartland Senior Services about the development of a healthy living center, which would include a swimming pool.
“We haven’t really progressed very far,” Superintendent Tim Taylor said.
Espeset said discussions on the pool will be an important topic for the joint meeting the board is planning with the city council in mid-June.
“We need to be prepared as we can for this meeting,” Espeset said.
Other business:
n The district’s policy committee has been working on rewriting the policy surrounding community usage of district buildings and the rates these groups have to pay. The committee has been working approximately eight months on this rewrite and will bring the updated proposals to the May 9 school board meeting for discussion.
n On June 6, construction crews will work on replacing all of the windows at Meeker Elementary. When the windows were installed last year, the wrong kind of glass was put in and needs to be replaced to fit the approved building design.
n Peters said his department have been working on a drawing of the new facilities and bus storage building, which will be on display to the public at the new administration building in the coming weeks.
Williamtown water contamination highlights dangers of PFOS and PFOA
by Charis Chang, originally posted on April 1, 2016
THE morning Rhianna Gorfine found out the food and water on her NSW farm had potentially been contaminated for years, her day began like any other.
Ms Gorfine and her husband Cain were hustling to get their children ready for school when the email came through. A friend had sent through a link to a local newspaper story saying “you should read this and let people know”.
“I remember thinking, this is unbelievable, this is crazy,” Ms Gorfine told news.com.au.
“I had to get Cain off the couch to stop him reading it, saying ‘we’ve got to get the kids to school’”.
The article that disrupted their routine that morning was every parent’s worst nightmare.
It informed them that toxic chemicals used in firefighting foam had leaked from the nearby Williamtown RAAF Base, and been found in some water and fish around their semirural area, 15km north of Newcastle in NSW.
Residents were told not to drink bore water or to eat any fish or eggs produced in the area. All forms of fishing in Fullerton Cove, including for prawns and fish, has been banned for months as testing continues.
Some Australians may be shocked that this could be happening in a country known for its clean environment. But the residents around the base are not the only ones battling the impacts of these toxic chemicals. In fact the chemicals involved have been used in many everyday products.
The Department of Defence is investigating another 15 sites for contamination, and chemicals have already been detected in other areas of Queensland and Victoria.
Two of the chemicals found in Williamtown water have been linked to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced hypertension and medically diagnosed high cholesterol in humans.
The same chemicals can also be used in common household items including non-stick frying pans, camping and weatherproof gear.
So should the public be concerned about these chemicals? Here’s what you need to know.
WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE CHEMICALS?
You’ve probably never heard of PFOS or PFOA but if you have ever used a non-stick frying pan, gone camping, worn a waterproof jacket or lived close to an army base or training ground for firefighters, you may have been exposed to them.
In fact both these chemicals have been found in the blood, urine and breast milk of Australians.
Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are man-made compounds that have been used in a range of industrial, commercial and domestic products for decades.
In particular they have been used to make firefighting foams in Australia for nearly 50 years because they are so good at putting out liquid fuel fires. They are still regarded as the most effective way to fight fires where lives are at risk, as could occur in an air crash.
The problem is that the chemicals can’t be broken down easily (if at all) but they can easily move from soil to groundwater and can be transported long distances via air and water.
Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith is part of the working group that reviews substances for the United Nation’s Stockholm Convention, aimed at controlling some of the world’s most dangerous chemicals.
She told news.com.au that PFOS and PFOA had been nicknamed “poisons without passports” for their ability to spread throughout the world.
“We already have PFOS contamination throughout the globe now,” she said. “Indonesia or China may use it and Australia may end up with the contamination, or vice versa.”
A study published in 2011 found the chemicals were in drinking water samples collected from 34 locations including capital cities and regional centres in Australia.
Adding to the problem is the fact that the chemicals don’t break down.
“What we use today will be with us for all time, that’s the horrendous thing,” Dr Lloyd-Smith said. “They never degrade or go away, it’s a bit of a nightmare.”
They also remain in the human body for three to five years, mainly in the blood, kidneys and liver.
ARE THEY SAFE?
While the Defence Department claims there are no globally accepted studies showing exposure harms human health, the dangers of these chemicals are being recognised overseas.
Last year an Ohio woman was awarded $1.6 million in compensation after a jury ruled that PFOA contributed to her kidney cancer after a Dupont plant contaminated local drinking water.
As part of the lawsuit, the C8 Science Panel concluded that PFOA could cause kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, thyroid disease, pregnancy-induced hypertension and medically diagnosed high cholesterol in humans.
Dupont is now facing law suits from an extra 3500 residents near its plant in West Virginia.
In Europe, PFOA is classified as a reproductive toxin and is required to be labelled “may damage the unborn child”.
While the Stockholm Convention has already listed PFOS as a chemical that should not be used, it is still investigating its sister chemical PFOA.
Dr Lloyd-Smith believes PFOA will probably be listed by 2020. It has already passed the first step, with the convention’s review committee acknowledging evidence that it can cause kidney and testicular cancer, disruption of thyroid function and endocrine disruption in women.
Meanwhile the Science Advisory Board of the United States Environmental Protection Agency has assessed both chemicals as “likely to be carcinogenic to humans”.
Head of the Defence Estate and Infrastructure Group, Steve Grzeskowiak, has said previously that Defence no longer uses the firefighting foam, following international research which found it contained chemicals which could persist in the environment for decades.
Mr Grzeskowiak said he understood there were no globally accepted studies showing exposure to PFOS and PFOA harmed human health, and studies of US workers exposed to high levels showed no chronic health effects.
“That said, Defence is committed to undertaking ecological and human health risk assessments to
understand current exposure scenarios and associated risks,” he said.
But Dr Lloyd-Smith disagrees.
“There is always an argument from the Department of Defence that there is no scientific evidence that PFOS and PFOA has health effects, but that is a blatant lie as there are numerous published health studies showing serious harm,” she said.
THEY’RE EVERYWHERE
While hardly any countries still make PFOS for use in firefighting foams, the foams are still available in Australia as there has never been a recall or ban.
In a report she is preparing for the convention, Dr Lloyd-Smith notes that there are estimates of a stockpile of 7.6 tonnes of firefighting foam containing PFOS in Australia.
The foams are designated for emergency use only but Dr Lloyd-Smith says there is evidence some fire authorities are still using them.
Its sister compound PFOA is most well known for being used in the manufacture of Teflon, used in non-stick frying pans. Dr Lloyd-Smith said there was half a dozen manufacturers in China that were still making products using PFOA, including in products like non-stick cookware.
“These are making their way into Europe and Australia,” she said. “That’s why we need a UN convention as no country alone can deal with it.”
WHY ARE WE STILL USING THEM?
The potential dangers of PFOS and PFOA have been suspected for years.
The major manufacturer of PFOS, the company 3M, agreed to stop production of its firefighting foam in 2002 because of pressure from the US Environmental Protection Agency, over emerging scientific evidence about its health and environmental effects.
But civilian and military authorities, including the Australian Defence Force, used the foam from the 1970s to the mid-2000s.
In fact the Australian Department of Defence was told 12 years ago (in 2003) that the fire fighting foam they were using contained chemicals that could cause cancer.
But Australia has been slow to act compared with other countries.
Canada stopped the manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale and import of PFOS and related substances back in 2006. The European Union has restricted their marketing and use, and the US has severely restricted their use to occasions where no safer alternative is available.
“We are sold the line that we have the best regulatory system in the world but unfortunately that’s not truth,” Dr Lloyd-Smith said.
The United Nation’s Stockholm Convention formally listed PFOS in 2010, which means most countries automatically ban the chemical or phase it out. Technically the listing still allows for the chemical to be used for firefighting purposes but very few countries do this.
More than five years later, Australia has not ratified the PFOS listing, even though it has ratified the convention, and says it no longer uses the foam.
While Australia has never manufactured PFOS or PFOA, it has also never banned the chemicals, or recalled the foam, like it did when the pesticide DDT was listed.
When asked why Australia had not ratified 2010 amendment, a Department of Environment spokesman said the Commonwealth had been undertaking “significant technical, scientific and regulatory analysis on PFOS”.
“(This includes) exploring restrictions and management options in consultation with state and territory governments.”
He said an early assessment Regulation Impact Statement on ratification would be released soon for public consultation, addressing restrictions and management options.
When asked why PFOS products including the foam had never been recalled, he said the department did not regulate the use of firefighting foams.
“Decisions on the nature and use of the fighting foams are for Commonwealth, State and Territory agencies with fire fighting responsibilities,” he said.
“The use of PFOS in fire fighting foams continues to be an acceptable use under the Stockholm Convention.
“Any future regulatory measures to restrict PFOS containing fire fighting foams would be a matter for the Australian Government.”
Dr Lloyd-Smith said the aim of the convention was to stop the international trade of the chemical. “Once it’s on the convention, not only are you not supposed to use it, you can’t manufacture it or import it,” she said.
Australia’s industrial chemical regulator, the National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS), has sent out alerts and recommendations to industry advising them not to use foam containing PFOS, but old stocks are still out in the community.
“We should be getting out of the global trade but … I guess Australia will be the dumping ground for a while,” Dr Lloyd-Smith said.
IMPACT ON AUSTRALIANS
Dr Lloyd-Smith says that concentrations of PFOS and PFOA in Australians were similar or higher than in people overseas, according to monitoring results from 2010/11.
“Concentrations in Australian women of child-bearing age are almost twice that found in pregnant women from Germany,” she said. Compared to adults in the US, concentrations can be twice as high.
The good news is that these concentrations have been decreasing in adults, and this is most likely due to the decline in global use of the chemicals since 2002.
But traces of the chemicals have been found in water samples around Australia.
A study published in 2011 by University of Queensland’s Jack Thompson found the chemicals were present in drinking water samples collected from 34 locations including capital cities and regional centres.
Of the samples collected, 49 per cent had traces of PFOS and 44 per cent had PFOA.
Areas where the chemicals were the highest included the Sydney suburbs of Blacktown, Quakers Hill and North Richmond. Samples from regional NSW towns of Gundagai and Yass also had relatively high concentrations.
These concentrations were well below the provisionary guidelines suggested by the US EPA, as well as those set by the German Drinking Water Commission and other international authorities.
But Dr Lloyd-Smith said while there is a recommended level of exposure for these chemicals, recent research suggested that PFOS concentrations may already be causing adverse health impacts, which indicates the values may be too high.
“As PFOS and PFOA do not break down, are passed from one generation to the next via breast milk and in utero, and have in some cases demonstrated changes in gene expression at very low levels, it is possible that like lead and mercury, there may be no safe level of exposure.”
THEY WEREN’T TOLD
The Department of Defence has known since 2012 that surface water leaving the RAAF Base Williamtown had elevated levels of both PFOS and PFOA but did not tell the public.
When the community was finally told, the news didn’t come from Defence, but via a media release from the NSW EPA.
Defence had quietly told the NSW EPA about the issue three years ago but did not tell other stakeholders including Hunter Water, council, media and the community.
In the first report from the Senate inquiry into the contamination of defence force facilities, it suggests the community should have been told earlier.
“The lack of timely notification has also prevented members of the affected communities from taking precautionary measures against drinking water or consuming products with potentially harmful levels of PFOS/PFOA,” the report states.
The inquiry has made a number of recommendations including that the government should voluntarily acquire contaminated land, pay for annual blood testing of residents and develop a compensation package for fisherman affected by the closures of Fullerton Cove and Tilligerry Creek.
The report was published on February 4 but almost two months have passed without any response from Defence.
“It’s been nearly eight months since the declaration of the red zone when the fishing ban was imposed, and we were told we couldn’t eat eggs, vegetables or drink water,” Mr Gorfine told news.com.au.
“Now we have seen a Senate inquiry deliver strong recommendations but there’s been no meaningful response from the Department of Defence.”
A Department of Defence spokesman said a response would be tabled once the government has carefully considered each of the report’s recommendations.
“Defence is engaging with other Commonwealth agencies and is providing advice to the Minister for Defence on this matter.”
The community are so sick of waiting they have decided to launch a class action.
“This was known to different bodies for two and a half years (before residents were told) and we were extremely angry and concerned that residents had been put in that position,” Ms Gorfine said.
Those still living in the area have had their lives turned upside down. Local fisherman who have been banned from using Fullerton Cove have lost their livelihoods, perhaps forever. Others have seen their property values plummet and fear for their future health.
“It’s been extremely stressful, people are suicidal, fishers have been without an income for eight months,” Mr Gorfine said.
While the Gorfines were lucky to be connected to town water, which was not impacted, the family used bore water for their vegetable garden as well as to water the horses and chickens on their seven-acre farm. The Gorfines and their three children aged one, four and nine years old, have been eating this potentially contaminated produce for years.
WHAT NEXT?
Dr Lloyd-Smith believes urgent action is needed to ensure Australians are protected from ongoing exposure to perfluorinated compounds such as PFOS and PFOA.
She has called for the Australian government to immediately ratify and take action on the convention’s 2010 listing of PFOS and other chemicals. This would include recalling firefighting foams containing PFOS and PFOA, as well as banning them.
She also believes contaminated sites should be cleaned up and the health of firefighters and other workers monitored.
PFOS has already been linked to unusually high rates of skin, testicular and brain cancer at the Country Fire Authority’s Fiskville training base in Victoria.
Testing of Queensland firefighters found they had six to 10 times the amount of PFOS in their serum as others in the general population, according to a 2014 study. Blood tests of Oakey residents also found very high levels of the chemical, up to more than 40 times the national average. These residents have also started a class action.
It’s believed 15 RAAF and other military sites across Australia could have been contaminated. These include Western Australia’s RAAF Base Pearce, Victoria’s RAAF Base East Sale and HMAS Albatross in NSW.
Defence is investigating how it can clean up contamination on some of its bases from decades of using the potentially toxic firefighting foam.
But it says worldwide research has identified few effective or viable large-scale remediation techniques.
Dr Lloyd-Smith also wants an urgent review of the chemicals that have replaced the PFOA/PFOS based firefighting foams, because some of them have the same toxic characteristics.
“It’s really worrying because we could simply be repeating past mistakes,” she said.
“Many people have the idea that they wouldn’t sell it if it wasn’t safe, it’s a sweet but naive attitude.
“In Australia there are 38,000 listings on the index of chemical substances but only 3000 have been assessed for toxicity.”
How 1 N.J. district has beaten its dirty water problem — for 14 years
by Greg Adomaitis, originally posted on March 31, 2016
CAMDEN – Every year for the past 14 years, Camden City public schools have had to include a special item in their budget — about $75,000 for water coolers and paper cups.
The cost of providing faculty and staff with clean drinking water, school district officials said, far outweighs the expenses that would be needed to address the underlying issue on a more permanent basis — replacing the aging infrastructure that’s causing lead to leak into the city’s public water.
While the issues of lead-contaminated water in New Jersey’s largest school district of Newark only bubbled to the surface within the past month and have been thrust into the spotlight by legislators and environmentalists, the problems in Camden have been going on for more than a decade.
“The challenge is with the pipes in many of our older buildings. Over half of district buildings were constructed before 1928,” Camden City schools spokesman Brendan Lowe said last week.
And fixing those pipes in Camden or elsewhere isn’t likely to happen any time soon, officials say.
The health impacts of ingesting the lead, especially among young people, can range from growth, intelligence and behavior problems to affecting attention and other psychological issues, according to the American Psychological Association.
Between August 1999 and February 2002, testing of lead levels in city school district drinking water revealed levels that could be dangerous to students’ health. According to a 2002 Philadelphia Inquirer article, parts per billion climbed from tens to hundreds. Federal guidelines recommend action to be taken if tests reveal concentration greater than 20 ppb in a 250 mL sample.
Water fountains were shut off at older affected Camden schools and bottled water has been made available to the entire district since 2002.
“This solution — along with flushing systems in our older buildings and filtration systems in our newer buildings — has worked successfully for students and staff to date,” Lowe said, adding that he’s not aware of any plans to deviate from the bottled water provisions.
All but five city schools had water foundations shut off or removed. The schools that were not affected were ones that have been built within the last decade and have filtration systems built into them, Lowe said.
The flushing system, put in place in about 20 of the district’s older buildings, is tested every three months. Lowe said flushing system tests are done regularly, with results “reported internally unless elevated levels of lead are found.”
Asked about the cost of the flushing systems, Lowe said the price tag was “built into the cost of building the schools,” which were constructed by the state’s Schools Development Authority.
“While we believe students and staff have easy access to drinking water, we still are looking for opportunities to either significantly renovate some of our oldest school buildings and construct new school buildings so our students attend school in 21st-century learning facilities, as we set out in our strategic plan, the Camden Commitment,” Lowe said.
New Jersey Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said that as the cast iron conduits with lead joints age, the lead can start seeping into the water supply. While it’s possible to place “slip lines” within the pipes or add chemicals to treat the water, outright replacement is an “expensive problem to fix.”
“There is a serious problem with lead in urban areas,” said Tittel. “One positive of the tragedy of lead in Flint, (Michigan) is now people are paying attention.”
The cost statewide would add up to around $8 billion, Tittel said, adding that figuring out who can foot the bill for the project — besides passing the buck on to ratepayers — remains an ongoing issue.
“You have old pipes that go back to when the city was first developed,” Tittel said of Camden, where the private company that recently began overseeing operations and maintenance of the infrastructure declined to comment on the source of Camden’s water.
This week, three legislators including state Senate President Steve Sweeney, announced a proposal to provide $3 million to reimburse schools for water testing as well as another $20 million in state aid for schools with lead pipes and other fixtures so the schools can install filters.
U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross is joining the charge at the federal level, having recently sponsored an amendment to the current federal budget proposal that would dedicate $3.13 billion to the EPA’s Safe Drinking Water Revolving Fund and $19.8 million to the Center for Disease Control’s Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program.
“I’m just hearing about [Camden using bottled water] because I asked, when Flint got hit, I said, ‘Do we have this issue?” And I didn’t hear about this. Needless to say I’m torqued,” Norcross said during a recent editorial board meeting with NJ Advance Media.
“But I don’t want to overreact until we find out the facts. Is it bottled water because of lead or are there just not good pipes there? Lead is not the only contaminant in water these days,” he continued.
Officials: Water Samples Show PFOA Contamination in Bennington Area Ponds
by Joe Gullo
BENNINGTON, Vt. – The Vermont Governor’s Office announced surface water results from Bennington and North Bennington samples.
Collections were taken around the former Chemfab facilities to try and determine the source and extent of PFOA contamination.
The governor’s office says of the 10 water samples taken from local creeks and ponds, concentrations of PFOA ranged from no detection (less than 7 parts per trillion) to 78 parts per trillion.
The highest concentration was found from a water surface sample from the pond on Bennington College Campus. PFOA concentrations in four water samples from Paran Creek ranged from 16 to 38 parts per trillion from. PFOA concentrations between 8 and 9 parts per trillion were detected in the water samples collected from the Walloomsac River.
No PFOA was detected in the water samples from Lake Paran or in the Walloomsac River just upstream and downstream of its confluence with the Roaring Branch.
“It is unlikely these concentrations would pose an ecological risk to fish and other aquatic organisms in these waters,” said Department of Fish & Wildlife Commissioner Louis Porter.
The Health Department says PFOA levels found in bodies of water are much lower than the levels required to make people sick who swim there.
As a precaution, the Agency of Agriculture, Department of Health, Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Department of Environmental Conservation will work together to test fish.
The governor’s office says department staff will use water and sediment results to determine how PFOA is distributed in the environment and develop a remediation plan.
Water protection plan shows hundreds of potential contaminants, up for public comment
by Sarah Plummer, originally posted on March 31, 2016
FAYETTEVILLE — West Virginia American Water’s Source Water Protection Plan for Fayette County, now out for public comment, shows nearly 300 potential sources of significant contamination that, if spilled or leaked, could reach its water intake within five hours.
Legislation passed after the 2014 Elk River chemical spill requires all public utilities to create an inventory of possible contaminants, communication and contingency plans in the event of a contamination, identify an alternative or backup water source and outline specific engineering details and feasibility studies for installing an early warning monitoring system.
Among the potential contaminants identified in the proposed New River Regional Water System, which serves 25,000 people in Fayette, are 45 abandoned mine lands, seven aboveground storage tanks that meet the criteria for registration under the law and 32 oil and gas wells.
The utility must also map a secondary zone in which potential contaminants could reach the water intake within 10 hours. The number of potential threats increase significantly — 214 abandoned mine lands, 25 aboveground storage tanks and 51 oil and gas wells.
A controversial underground storage well in Lochgelly is just outside the five-hour zone, but well within the 10-hour map. However, Duke University water testing on Wolf Creek, which is near the injection well, revealed fracking waste contamination. Wolf Creek is a tributary of the New River and within the critical five-hour zone.
Possible alternative water supplies noted under the plan are secondary intakes on the Gauley River (between $38 – $47 million), a five-day emergency storage reservoir ($20.8 million), connecting to the Kanawha Valley System ($64.2 million), or developing groundwater wells ($27.7 million).
All water utilities must submit protection plans to the state by July 1. After that deadline, the state must hold another round of public hearings for all public utilities in the state.
Representatives from West Virginia American Water aren’t sure how these plans will be implemented and how long it might be before a secondary supply source is created.
For now, the public is asked to share their input on the plan and help map potential contaminants.
Only a handful of citizens attended either of two hearings on the plan in Fayetteville Wednesday, and, as of Wednesday night, only a few public comments on the plan had been submitted at all.
Public comments will be accepted through May 2. Comments are also accepted through www.amwater.com. Source Water Protection information can be found under the Water Quality Stewardship section of the website.
Halliburton water contamination lawsuits nearing completion
by Christian Betancourt, originally posted on March 31, 2016
A class action lawsuit claiming that Halliburton contaminated water in North Duncan by dumping jet fuel waste into a pond in Duncan since 1976 will see a resolution for the plaintiffs soon.
David Page, an attorney with Duncan Law Firm Leach and Sullivan working in conjunction with New York City Law Firm Weitz and Luxenberg said a status report will be filed with confidential settlements for their clients. The reports had not been filed as of press time.
In 2011 water quality tests showed the presence of ammonium perchlorate – a toxic salt mineral known to be used in fireworks and explosives and as missile fuel – in the north section of Duncan where an old Halliburton location was used as a place to conduct removal of spent missile fuel.
The process released the ammonium perchlorate compound into the groundwater and into private water wells.
According to the United State Environmental Protection Agency, perchlorate is highly soluble and “high doses of perchlorate can result in the decrease of body weight” and “cause hypertrophy of the thyroid gland.”
The EPA has also taken up monitoring perchlorate levels under the Safe Drinking Water Act and “has initiated the process of proposing a national primary drinking water regulation.”
An expert opinion map prepared by Earth Forensics and obtained by public records shows the contaminated area extends from Camelback to Gatlin Road and Highway 81 and Ponderosa Road.
“This is a photo of the area where the missile cleaning was going on,” said Page pointing to the map. “There was a pond where they took the missile waste waters and put them in the pond without a liner. It leaked down into the ground water. The water wasn’t deep. It was very shallow. Once the contamination gets into the ground water, the experts call that an underground water contamination plume. The plume is where the contamination has flown underground.”
Page pointed out in the map, the area where contamination was the highest.
“Most of the flow is going southwest and northeast,” he said. “That was as of two years ago. It might be bigger or smaller. With this information … we started settling cases. Depending on how much contamination they have, they can have health problems from drinking the water.”
The plume covered about 280 properties including residential and agricultural plots of land. Page said there is a debate between the experts from both sides about the number of properties affected or threatened by the plume.
“Some are huge, some are about an acre,” he said. “On average we would say (that represents about 580 people) over all the years.
The contamination, according to Page, occurred over four decades.
“For years since about 1976 until just a couple of years ago … people were drinking the water and Halliburton didn’t tell them,” he said. “Halliburton didn’t tell people the water they were drinking was contaminated until 2011, even though they knew they were contaminating the water since 1976.”
In order to remove the contaminants from the ground water, according to Page, the EPA and the Department of Environmental Quality ordered Halliburton to follow an extensive cleanup effort to rid the area of contaminants.
“First they have to remove the contaminated soil … because every time it rains it leaks the contamination in the ground water again,” he said. “Based on what (DEQ) required, (Halliburton) is taking out the most contaminated soil. The DEQ required Halliburton to stop the contaminated water from leaving the site by putting some trenches. Third they put in a pump system … to try to pump out the ground water, clean it … and dump the clean water into Cow Creek.”
Page said the effort is a pilot project being tested to remove the contaminated water.
“They’re theoretically possible, but until they do it and continue to look at the data … and if they work, the DEQ will require Halliburton to implement it full blast,” said Page.
The cleanup is required by DEQ. Page could not disclose if the clean up was part of the settlements.
“Halliburton has agreed to continue the cleanup efforts in accordance with DEQ and EPA requirements until (they) say it’s okay to stop,” he said. “They didn’t propose (the pilot programs) until last Fall. Frankly the public record shows, we were critical of Halliburton for waiting so long. We also believe, based on our public record filings … in our opinion, the plume is a lot bigger than it probably would’ve been if they had (been) busy earlier on.”
More than 350 homes in Bedford impacted by water problem
by Kimberly Houghton, originally posted on March 30, 2016
BEDFORD — There are currently 357 households in Bedford dealing with low levels of contamination in their public water supply.
Although Pennichuck Corp. serves those 357 properties within Greenfield Farms, Cabot Preserve and Parker Ridge, the water is purchased from Merrimack Village District.
Select water samples in Bedford have detected perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, at 36 parts per trillion in those neighborhoods. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services is currently providing bottled water to households in other communities that have detected PFOA at 100 ppt or more.
Kelleigh Murphy, town council chairman, said town officials are very concerned about PFOA and the overall quality of the drinking water in Bedford.
Town councilors will work with state and federal officials to vigorously pursue the needs of local residents concerning water contamination, Murphy said Wednesday during a public information meeting on the issue.
The Bedford neighborhoods that are served by Merrimack Village District include Greenfield Farms, Cabot Preserve, Parker Ridge, Brick Mill and Jenkins Road.
To date, Merrimack Village District water wells — which provide water to 25,000 customers — have tested positive for PFOA at levels ranging from 17 ppt to 90 ppt.
“I’m not really frightened, but I think they should fix this problem,” said Lois Carter, a resident of Greenfield Farms who attended Wednesday’s meeting.
Carter said she doesn’t necessarily want to spend $2,500 or more to install a carbon filter for her entire household, but she does want reassurance that her drinking water is safe.
“We also want to keep our property values,” said Eileen Wallace, a Greenfield Farms resident.
Litchfield, Merrimack
Twenty private wells in Litchfield and Merrimack within one mile of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics in Merrimack have detected PFOA above 100 ppt, and bottled water is being provided to those properties.
Although 20 wells have shown contamination, 19 properties are affected, since two of the wells sit on one site.
“I know the topic is emotional and concerning for all, and to some it is alarming,” said Rick Sawyer, acting town manager, noting Bedford’s water meeting is the third forum of its kind since PFOA was detected nearly a month ago at four faucets within the Saint-Gobain plant.
Since then, Saint-Gobain has begun sampling groundwater and soil samples at its Merrimack facility.
The state has initiated its own investigation and is collecting water samples within a one-mile radius of Saint-Gobain.
“We are expediting every bottle we can get in,” Clark Freise, assistant commissioner with DES, said of the water samples.
The out-of-state laboratory being utilized for the test results is calculating about 20 results per day, at best, according to Freise. He said the laboratory is currently at capacity.
For now, officials are focusing on a one-mile radius from the plastics facility in an effort to discover a contamination pattern.
The highest amounts of contamination have been detected at 820 and 830 ppt directly across from the plant at two private wells in Merrimack.
“These chemicals, unfortunately, are everywhere in the environment,” said Dr. Ben Chan, state epidemiologist.
There is no current federal regulation for PFOA, although there is a health advisory level of 400 ppt for long-term exposure. Vermont has set a standard of 20 ppt.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is expected to release an updated health advisory level for short-term exposure this spring.
The health effects of long-term exposure to PFOA are not fully known. Some studies have associated the chemical with high cholesterol, thyroid diseases, ulcerative colitis, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, kidney cancer, pregnancy-induced hypertension and more, according to Chan.