As many as 1 million Californians, mostly in the farming communities of the Central Valley, have dangerous levels of an unregulated chemical linked to cancer in their drinking water, according to California’s State Water Board.
State and private water experts say it remains there and is now found in dangerous levels in the drinking water served by 94 different public water systems.
State data show about two-thirds of the 94 affected water systems are in the Central Valley, although the chemical also has been found at levels experts say is unsafe in parts of the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
The two chemical companies have argued in court they shouldn’t be responsible for damages or cleanup costs because the state doesn’t have a maximum legal limit set for TCP in drinking water.
Those Priorities Don’t Apply Here Activists and environmental groups argue Shell and Dow should bear cleanup costs where TCP contamination is found because of the chemical’s widespread marketing to farmers.
It should be on those that are causing it.” Monaco is working with Central Valley communities to test their water for contaminants such as TCP.
That’s what I worry about.” Although there is no legal limit set for TCP anywhere in the country, attorney Todd Robins has settled eight lawsuits filed against Dow and Shell on behalf of small public water systems affected by TCP.
“This is another compelling example of the fact that the poorest among us, the people with the voices that are least heard, bear the brunt of the worst environmental burdens.” Although no state in the country has set a maximum contaminant level (MCL) for TCP, California water officials expect to formalize an MCL for the chemical in drinking water soon.
If the water served to the public exceeds the MCL, the water system will be required to clean it up.
A previous NBC Bay Area investigation found that nearly 700,000 Californians still have drinking water contaminated by chemicals already regulated by the state.