Base addresses community concerns about contaminated water.
The meeting was conducted in order to allow concerned community members to voice concerns and ask questions of experts and base officials.
“We will continue to remain completely transparent as we work to determine the extent of PFOS/PFOA contamination and how to quickly and effectively provide clean water to those possibly affected by past base activities,” said Samuelson.
“Your Fairchild is committed to working with the city and regulatory partners to protect human health and resolve the issue at hand.” Samuelson noted that he will remain fully accessible to any member of the community who has questions to ensure that there is transparency and that “the patriots of Fairchild are here to help and not to hurt.” “Fairchild continues to be a valued partner in helping the city,” said Albert Tripp, Airway Heights city manager.
“When we learned about the possible water contamination, we took a proactive approach getting the water tested and closing down the affected wells.
The city will continue to work with our partners and provide drinking water until we have the all clear (to lift the advisory).” The ongoing sampling efforts on and around Fairchild AFB are part of a proactive and comprehensive site inspection program to determine if, and to what extent, past base activities contributed to elevated levels of PFOS/PFOA in groundwater.
PFOS/PFOAs are unregulated compounds and are classified by the EPA as "emerging contaminants."
“We care about solving the problem, and we care about protecting our environment and leaving a legacy that generations to come can enjoy,” Samuelson said.
“Transparency and accessibility are my top key words in this with you.
If you have frustrations with base activities, give them to me and I will work tirelessly with you to get a resolution as soon as possible.” To date, the City of Airway Heights, Fairchild AFB and other volunteers have provided and distributed more than 80,000 gallons of water to citizens of Airway Heights affected by the city’s drinking water advisory.

A chemical which has been linked to increased risk of cancer, trihalomethane, or THM, has been rising in East Bay drinking water for the last few years, according to a report released June 8 by the East Bay Municipal Utility District.
In addition, the EBMUD has proposed to raise its water rates by 9.25 percent beginning July 12, and another 9 percent beginning July 1, 2018 — if the rates are approved after a public hearing with the EBMUD Board of Directors on July 12, according to its website.
“(The proposal) is kind of outrageous when they are telling us the water quality is dangerous,” City Councilmember Susan Wengraf said.
“I’ve always been told our water is very safe water … if I think it’s serious I will be notifying all my constituents.” EBMUD spokesperson Jenesse Miller said, however, that THM levels are still well below the state and federal limit of 80 parts per billion, and emphasized that the water is safe to drink.
THMs are created as a result of organic matter breaking down into molecules and combining with chlorine, according to Charlotte Smith, a professor in the campus public health department.
Smith, who also serves on the expert panel of the Water Research Foundation, said although the East Bay drinking water passes safe drinking water standards, citizens can either pass the water through a carbon filter or boil the water to get rid of THMs.
In order to improve water quality, Smith suggested the district can evaluate the point of the application of chlorine and process by which they limit organic matter.
Despite the city’s conservation efforts, the increase in water rates is actually due to the city’s need to maintain and improve infrastructure, Miller said.
“You’re not just paying for the water the way you would at a supermarket.
You’re paying for reliability and safety of water.” Miller added that while 9.25 percent could alarm residents, the actual price is roughly $4.34 more per month per user.

There’s no way that a 31% budget cut will not paralyze environmental protection and threaten public health.
Pruitt should answer how the EPA can carry out the basic requirements of safeguards in the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the Toxics Substances Control Act if the agency loses 31% of its resources and more than 3,700 of its 15,300 people—while Trump also moves to roll back protections provided under those laws.
The EPA’s critical accomplishments in 2016 included: 13,500 compliance inspections and evaluations; 1,308 enforcement actions under the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act; 62 billion pounds of hazardous waste that enforcement actions required companies to address; and 190 million cubic yards of contaminated soil and groundwater cleanup commitments secured—enough to fill the Empire State building more than 138 times.
Trump’s budget sharply reduces funding for the Superfund program, cutting $330 million from the roughly $1.1 billion Superfund initiative.
Climate work would be rolled back by Pruitt.
Pruitt should answer whether he’ll commit that Americans’ drinking water safety won’t get worse if he successfully repeals Clean Water Act protections.
Trump signed an executive order on February 28 setting in motion steps to eliminate Obama-era clean water protections for waterways from which 117 million Americans get their drinking water.
More about these protections from pollution here.
But that’s without any new funding.
Even if you don’t want to believe in climate change, you’ve got to believe that carbon and mercury are not good for you.” Moves by Trump and Pruitt will lead to more air pollution.

Gideon Ahenkorah/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, June 14, GNA – Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, on Wednesday reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting prudent initiatives aimed to increase public access to safe water and improved sanitation. The Minister was addressing a group of African Water, construction and building experts at this year’s three-day Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Trade seminar and exhibition underway in Accra. The event organised by ACE event management, a UK-based organisation, is on the theme: “Ghana’s Urban and Rural Water and Sanitation Challenge in the 21st Century.” The event, which commenced on Wednesday and is expected to end on Friday, aims at creating a two-way flow of information for the visitors and participants to help them analyse their sector needs and take steps for expansion and improvement. Mr Adda explained that the quest for increased access to safe water formed part of the government’s vision to improve health outcomes for economic growth and development. Mr Adda said Ghana had…

Gideon Ahenkorah/ Julius K. Satsi, GNA Accra, June 14, GNA – Mr Joseph Kofi Adda, the Minister of Sanitation and Water Resources, on Wednesday reaffirmed government’s commitment to supporting prudent initiatives aimed to increase public access to safe water and improved sanitation. The Minister was addressing a group of African Water, construction and building experts at this year’s three-day Water Africa and West Africa Building and Construction Trade seminar and exhibition underway in Accra. The event organised by ACE event management, a UK-based organisation, is on the theme: “Ghana’s Urban and Rural Water and Sanitation Challenge in the 21st Century.” The event, which commenced on Wednesday and is expected to end on Friday, aims at creating a two-way flow of information for the visitors and participants to help them analyse their sector needs and take steps for expansion and improvement. Mr Adda explained that the quest for increased access to safe water formed part of the government’s vision to improve health outcomes for economic growth and development. Mr Adda said Ghana had…

PHOENIX — Arizona is one of three states in which tap water has the highest average statewide levels of chromium-6, the carcinogen made popular by the 2000 “Erin Brockovich” movie.

The Environmental Working Group’s new report also shows Phoenix leads the nation’s largest cities for tap water that contains the cancer causing chemical.

The report found 79 of 80 samples from around Phoenix (taken by the city of Phoenix for an EPA study), contained “by far the highest average level” of chromium-6 of any major U.S. city.

“That number is misleading, because it doesn’t take into consideration that chromium-6 comes from mostly our ground water system,” said Troy Hayes, assistant director of the city of Phoenix Water Services Department.

“Ground water only makes up 2 percent of the water in which we distribute every day,” he said.

Hayes maintained the water in Phoenix is completely safe.

But of all major cities, why are only Phoenix’s numbers “misleading?”

“It’s skewed in the sense that we’re so heavily dependent on surface water here that has hardly any chrome in it, that it dilutes that number down,” he said.

But David Andrews, the co-author of the study, said the mixed water has chromium-6 levels that are worrying.

“I don’t think we need to run away (from the water), but it definitely raises some questions and it definitely raises some concerns,” he told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Bruce St. James and Pamela Hughes.

The city of Phoenix issued a response to the study that can be read here.

“For the city of Phoenix, one test of a ground water well, and one test of a surface water well don’t necessarily count as equal,” Hayes said. “When you put in 98 percent surface water, and only 2 percent ground water.”

Andrews said people who are worried about chromium-6 and other contaminants in their drinking water should consider installing a filtration system.

“In my home, I would add slightly more filtration to clean it up more,” he said.

The study also showed Arizona has one of the highest average statewide levels, highlighting high levels of the carcinogen in the water of Maricopa, Yavapai and Mohave counties.

Reader’s view: Don’t take water for granted.
To the editor: Imagine waking up every morning wondering where you will have to get your next clean drink.
This may sound like something out of a bad dream, but in many developing nations it is a reality.
I think it is important to bring awareness to the shortage of water across the world and how much water is wasted.
According to the United Nations Water Corporation, over 783 million people do not have access to clean water across the globe.
Charity Water is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing communities.
Since 2006, Charity Water has funded about 23,000 water projects and provided an estimated 7 million people with safe drinking water, roughly 1 percent of the estimated 783 million without clean water in the world.
Think about how much access you have to clean water sources: home faucets, garden hoses, sprinkler systems, car washes, fire hydrants, etc.
Now compare that to the amount of water in developing nations where perhaps one glass of water is all they have access to in a day.
Midland

Reader’s view: Don’t take water for granted.
To the editor: Imagine waking up every morning wondering where you will have to get your next clean drink.
This may sound like something out of a bad dream, but in many developing nations it is a reality.
I think it is important to bring awareness to the shortage of water across the world and how much water is wasted.
According to the United Nations Water Corporation, over 783 million people do not have access to clean water across the globe.
Charity Water is a non-profit organization whose mission is to bring clean and safe drinking water to people in developing communities.
Since 2006, Charity Water has funded about 23,000 water projects and provided an estimated 7 million people with safe drinking water, roughly 1 percent of the estimated 783 million without clean water in the world.
Think about how much access you have to clean water sources: home faucets, garden hoses, sprinkler systems, car washes, fire hydrants, etc.
Now compare that to the amount of water in developing nations where perhaps one glass of water is all they have access to in a day.
Midland

The military and local water authorities in Horsham, Warminster and Warrington are spending millions of dollars to install 20-foot tall towers of carbon at numerous drinking wells.
About two dozen chemicals related to PFOS and PFOA also can be found in water contaminated by firefighting foam, and those chemicals slip through carbon treatment faster than the other two perfluorinated compounds.
This means the chemicals could get into drinking water if a water authority isn’t looking for them.
“If you’re treating for PFOS or PFOA only, a lot of these other chemicals are going to break through the system,” said Chris Higgins, a professor of environmental engineering at the Colorado college and the study’s lead researcher.
Most large carbon filtration systems, including those being installed locally, pass water through one carbon filtration tower, then test it for the chemicals, and then pass it through a second tower before it’s ready for drinking.
This two-tiered approach may not be as effective as previously thought, Higgins said, based on his research and other studies.
The military has agreed to pay to install carbon filtration systems for those wells.
And Warminster gets all its water from the North Wales system, according to Warminster Municipal Authority manager Tim Hagey.
Private water supplier Aqua Pennsylvania, which serves a number of communities in Bucks and Montgomery counties, said this week it would install and test carbon filtration systems on contaminated wells in Hatboro and Chalfont.
When tests on one Hatboro well and one Chalfont well showed levels approaching the EPA safe limit last year, they were taken offline.

ACE17: Greeley wins “Best of the Best” drinking water taste test.
The event, composed of regional winners from water-tasting competitions across North America, was held at AWWA’s Annual Conference and Exposition (ACE17) in Philadelphia, Pa. Second place in the taste test went to Montpelier Municipal Utilities, Montpelier, Ohio with last year’s winners, the City of Bloomington, Minn taking third place.
The City of Greeley has two conventional water treatment plants that provide drinking water for the 103,000 citizens of Greeley and surrounding communities.
Consequently, Greeley has one of the most robust water systems in Colorado, says AWWA.
An esteemed judging panel rated each water system on its flavor characteristics.
Judges included Andrea Dietrich Monique Durand, engineer with Hazen and Sawyer P.C., and AWWA Public Affairs Council member, Cliff Shrive.
Previous competition winners are Bloomington, Minn. (2016), Big Sky, Mont.
(2012), Greenville, S.C. (2011), Stevens Point, Wis. (2010), Macon (Ga.) Water Authority (2009), Louisville (Ky.) Water Company (2008) and Illinois American Water, Champaign District (2006 and 2005).
Other “Best of the Best” participants in the competition included: Aqua Illinois – Kankakee Plant, Kankakee, Ill.; Brewster Water Dept., Brewster, Mass.
; City Utilities Commission of Corbin, Ky.; Georgetown County Water & Sewer District, Pawleys Island, S.C.; Green Bay Water Utility, Green Bay, Wis.; Huntsville Utilities, Huntsville, Ala.; Lehigh County Authority, Allentown, Pa.; Marshalltown Waterworks, Marshalltown, Iowa; Merchantville – Pennsauken Water Commission, N.J.; Neuse Regional Water & Sewer Authority, Kinston, N.C.; Philadelphia Water Dept., Philadelphia, Pa.; Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority, San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Jacinto River Authority, GRP Division, Conroe, Texas; Spotsylvania County Utilities, Fredricksburg, Va.; Union Hill Water Association, Redmond, Wash.; Village of Cortland, Neb.