Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 7, 2007
4. Water Quality
REGULATION:
Dairies given water rules; New regulations passed to control manure waste; farmers protest costs - Sacramento Bee
PERCHLORATE:
Contaminated land now clear; Officials say former site of Xerox plant is ready for development - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
CONTAMINATION:
Petroleum found in water under business - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
SEWAGE ISSUES:
MH sewage permit up for review - Tracy Press
REGULATION:
Dairies given water rules; New regulations passed to control manure waste; farmers protest costs
By E.J. Schultz, staff writer
For the first time, nearly 1,600 dairies will have to get waste-water permits, submit reports on soil and pond conditions and, eventually, install wells to monitor groundwater pollution.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board unanimously approved the regulations, but not before interest groups on both sides of the debate expressed serious concerns.
Agriculture leaders said the regulations were too costly and could put some small dairies out of business.
Environmentalists said the rules have loopholes and do not go far enough to protect low-income communities from contaminated drinking water.
"This is not a perfect permit," board member Christopher Cabaldon said. But "it is good enough to start getting out in the dairies and making sure that we're actually not hurting the water quality of
Milk is the No. 1 farm product in the
But the per gallon prices they get have been low for the past year or so.
Farmers say increased costs related to the water rules, along with high feed and energy costs, could squeeze many in the industry.
But valley agriculture, until recently, has been operating under a waiver program that calls for little oversight.
The dairy program approved Thursday is the culmination of years of debate and analysis.
Nitrates linked to cancer
Environmentalists allege that waste water from dairies pollutes groundwater that many valley communities rely on for drinking.
Laced with dangerous substances, including nitrates, pathogens and pharmaceuticals, the waste water can seep from corrals, ponds and fields into the groundwater, the groups say.
Of particular concern are nitrates, which can come from dairy waste. Nitrates have been linked with cancer, pregnancy risks and a blood disorder called methemoglobinemia, or "blue-baby syndrome." Health experts have said they have not received reports of blue-baby syndrome in the area.
Industry officials say there is no proof that dairies are solely to blame, because pollutants could be coming from cities, septic tanks, other farming operations or other industries, or could occur naturally.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture, in written testimony, said it is unfair to require all dairies to install monitoring wells when contamination could be coming from other sources.
Under the new regulations, groundwater monitoring will be phased in at the anticipated rate of 100 to 200 dairies per year, starting with dairies suspected of having high nitrate levels.
Environmentalists said the board is moving too slowly and that the monitoring will not produce any useful data for at least 16 to 20 years.
They also complained that the permits do not require existing dairies to put protective liners between lagoons and the ground below.
Only new or expanding dairies have to take such precautions. In some cases, a hard clay surface can suffice, as long as it doesn't allow significant seepage.
"We believe this permit, as it stands today, is a license to pollute," said Ingrid Brostrom of the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment.
Enforcement called weak
Residents from Cutler, Orosi and other south valley towns pleaded with the board for stronger rules, bringing with them what they said were polluted bottles of water from home.
Activists also argued that the enforcement mechanisms are weak. The board has seven to eight staff members overseeing dairies. It is asking the Legislature and Gov. Schwarzenegger to approve five more positions for the upcoming year.
Dairy operators said the industry already takes environmental precautions. Also, they said groundwater monitoring is of questionable scientific value because it can be hard to pin pollutants to the original source.
Adding more regulations could put some dairies, especially smaller ones, in a financial bind, said Michael Boccadoro, who leads a coalition of dairies called the Community Alliance for Responsible Environmental Stewardship.
To comply with the new rules, it will cost a 1,000-cow dairy as much as $56,000 initially and as much as $36,000 annually, board staff members said.
"Even if done right, some dairies will go out of business," Boccadoro said.
The rules affect dairies in operation on Oct. 17, 2005. A separate, and likely similar, program is in development for newer dairies. #
http://www.modbee.com/business/story/13553982p-14156240c.html
PERCHLORATE:
Contaminated land now clear; Officials say former site of Xerox plant is ready for development
By Will Bigham, staff writer
POMONA - The site of a former Xerox Corp. plant that once was a source of contamination that area residents charged with polluting groundwater is now clean enough for development, according to Xerox and city officials.
Recent musings by
More than 1,000 area residents filed a class-action lawsuit in the late 1990s against Xerox and two local water providers for allegedly polluting the groundwater, causing cancer, skin rashes and a host of other physical ills.
Xerox settled the suit in 2004. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.
The suits against the two water providers - the city of
Since the early 1980s, when leaked contaminants were initially discovered on the Xerox site, the company has conducted ongoing efforts to clean the area of toxins.
The long process is now nearly complete, Xerox and
A so-called "no further action" letter from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, the regulatory body responsible for overseeing the cleanup, is expected to arrive "within weeks, or within days," said Raymond Fong, deputy executive director of the city's Redevelopment Agency.
The letter will clear Xerox of additional large-scale site cleaning, but may specify minor work to finalize the process, Fong said.
Members of a work crew on the site last week said that final tests of possible pollutants were being conducted, and the site, even now, is clean enough for development.
"They could build anything here," said Jeremy Squire, a senior engineer for Haley & Aldrich, the company conducting testing for Xerox. "They could build a day-care center here."
Some who lived in the area where groundwater was believed to be contaminated are skeptical of claims that the land has been sufficiently cleaned.
Valerie Ogden, 58, who lived on
In 2003, she developed cancer, which she also attributes to the Xerox contamination.
"We used that (water) to bathe, drink, swim. We ate vegetables that were watered by it," she said. "I'm still suspicious of it. I still do not trust that it's cleaned up enough."
Those longtime residents who do remember said the perception of neighborhood tap water as polluted remains.
Residents "just live with it," said Patrick Harvey, 21, who has lived in his family's home on
Xerox operated its plant at the site from 1969 to 1990, and still owns the land. The city is considering several options for development, and discussed last year the possibility of attracting a mixed-use residential/commercial development.
Pomona Mayor Norma Torres recently dismissed
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_5835260
CONTAMINATION:
Petroleum found in water under business
By Joe Nelson, staff writer
BIG
According to a letter from the San Bernardino County Office of the Fire Marshal, an ongoing investigation into soil and groundwater contamination at Bear Valley Paving, in the 41000 block of
But there is no immediate evidence that drinking-water supplies have been contaminated.
Catherine Richards, a registered environmental health specialist with the
J.P. Montero, who owns the property that the paving business sits on, said he purchased the property in 1997, and that the underground storage tank had already been removed. He said the previous property owner showed him documentation confirming there was no groundwater contamination.
"The tanks have been documented not to leak for all the times he had his tanks," said Montero, who hosts a morning radio show in the
He said the source of the contamination might have come from a neighboring gas station that was ordered shut by the county years ago."These tanks did not cause any groundwater contamination whatsoever (at Bear Valley Paving)," Montero said. "Anything on our property is residual at best."
Cheri Haggerty, spokeswoman for
Ed Wallace, a
"My primary concern would be just how much has leaked into the groundwater supply, and do we have ground wells it's showing up in," said Wallace. "A lot of times it will saturate the soil around where the tank is and not necessarily permeate down into the aquifer." #
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_5823820
SEWAGE ISSUES:
MH sewage permit up for review
Tracy Press – 5/5/07
By Bob Brownne, staff writer
Dave Carlson, chief of the state office that regulates discharges of polluted water into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, said reports from the Mountain House Public Works Department suggest that concentrations of salt in the plant’s treated sewage are within state guidelines.
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board will review a five-year renewal of Mountain House’s permit today, right after it looks at
“There’s a big difference between the two in terms of their salt content,” he said. “
He said
Mountain House has a permit that allows it to pump 5.4 million gallons of treated sewage per day into
Those who advocate for cleaner water in the Delta put the permits in the same category: Both towns contribute salt to the Delta in spite of their efforts to reduce the concentration of salt in treated effluent.
Mountain House pumped no water into the river until two months ago, when it started to put 300,000 gallons per day of treated sewage in the river. It’s had its permit since 1998.
In its letter to the regional board, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance notes that Mountain House, unlike
http://tracypress.com/content/view/9089/2/
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