Five years after Beaver Falls Municipal Authority — a water utility that serves 50,000 Pennsylvanians — discovered elevated levels of a likely human carcinogen, the utility has not taken steps to address the problem, a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette review of water records shows.
Although the utility was aware of these high levels, it did not warn residents of the potential dangers of drinking its water or take steps to reduce dioxane levels, according to multiple employees.
The utility has not tested for dioxane since then — and it has accumulated numerous other water testing violations in recent years.
In 2013 and 2014, Beaver Falls Municipal Authority was one of several water utilities required to test for the unregulated contaminant 1,4-dioxane.
*The Beaver Falls Municipal Authority average was taken from 2013 and 2014 test results.
In 2013, the EPA required all large water utilities — systems serving more than 10,000 people — to test for this substance.
Beaver Falls included the dioxane results in its 2013 drinking water quality report, but did not inform residents that the elevated levels of the chemicals could increase their risk of cancer and other health problems or tell them what the EPA’s dioxane advisory level is.
Because dioxane is “unregulated” — and, as a result, Beaver Falls’ high dioxane level did not constitute an EPA violation — the water authority didn’t have to.
Both Ms. Price, who worked at the plant in 2013, and Mr. Riggio said Mr. Stevenson never spoke to them about the high dioxane result or expressed concerns about the health problems the chemical can cause.
Under Mr. Stevenson’s leadership, the plant did not test for dioxane after 2013 and 2014 — the only years the EPA mandated testing — according to Beaver Falls water testing data, even though water utilities typically have to continue monitoring unregulated contaminants that water tests find in high quantities, according to Ms. Price.