[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATER QUALITY - 9/20/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 20, 2007

 

4. Water Quality

 

FLUORIDE:

Jensen Camp water case heard - Monterey Herald

 

IDAHO-MARYLAND MINE:

Citizens can chime in on mine reopening - Grass Valley Union

 

 

FLUORIDE:

Jensen Camp water case heard

Monterey Herald – 9/19/07

By Virginia Hennessey, staff writer

 

More than 80 residents of a Cachagua mobile home park turned to the 6th District Court of Appeal in their quest to sue the county for failing to tell them for seven years that their water was contaminated with dangerous levels of naturally occurring fluoride.

 

If questions from the judges were any indication, the three-judge panel appearing in a special session at Monterey City Hall was sympathetic to the group's pleas.

 

Deputy County Counsel Patrick McGreal argued that the county's only legislative requirement is to make sure the operator of the water system at Jensen Camp conducts tests on the water quality and files reports to the county Health Department.

 

Justice Franklin Elia did not agree. Under state and federal law, he said, the county has "a responsibility to check and make sure the water is safe."

 

"There's no question this is a mandatory duty," he said. "... This water is dangerous and if you fail in that duty, you should be sued."

 

The residents of Jensen Camp sued the county and Rick Pinch of Jensen Camp Water Co. in 2004, one year after they learned by accident that their water was tainted.

 

The residents' attorney, Brian Burchett of San Diego, told the appellate panel one of the residents went to the county in 2003 to complain about yellow water. A clerk opened the file on the property and said, "Oh crap" upon seeing that water-quality tests had shown fluoride contamination since 1995, he said.

 

The lawsuit against Pinch is still pending. Judge Kay Kingsley dismissed the case against the county in April 2006, ruling that the plaintiffs had not shown the county had a legal duty to protect their health. The plaintiffs appealed to the Sixth District.

 

In court Tuesday, McGreal argued the county's only responsibility was to assist Pinch in meeting the "legislative intent" that he provide clean water to his customers.

 

"How, sir, are you going to do that when you don't even look at the reports over four years?" Elia asked.

 

"What is (Pinch) supposed to do," quipped Presiding Justice Conrad Rushing, "call back and say, 'Did you see that (test result)?'"

 

Burchett, who was assisted in the case by Carmel Valley lawyer Richard Rosenthal, argued that state health and safety code and the Clean Water Act required the county to notify residents and force Pinch to retest the water on a quarterly basis.

 

In its arguments to Judge Kingsley, Burchett said, the county said it didn't understand what the state meant in requiring the county to "review" water-quality reports submitted by Pinch and other system operators.

 

"All the county has to do is look at the side of the page that has printing on it and they will see the fluoride count at Jensen Camp was four to five times what it was supposed to be," he said.

 

The panel, which also included Justice Eugene Premo, has 90 days to rule on the case.  #

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_6934919?nclick_check=1

 

 

IDAHO-MARYLAND MINE:

Citizens can chime in on mine reopening

Grass Valley Union – 9/19/07

By Greg Moberly, staff writer

 

While the reopening of a decades-old gold mining operation appears several years away if approved, the mine’s owner continues to grapple with potential negative impacts.

Creating a truck-staging area at the Idaho-Maryland Mine where truckers can only depart during non-peak hours, extending Centennial Drive to intersect with East Bennett Road, adding traffic controls at several key intersections and continued monitoring of neighborhood wells are just some of what mine leaders are planning.

An environmental review session on Idaho-Maryland Mining Corp.’s plan is set for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Love Building at Condon Park.

The mine, which was operated from 1862 to 1956, would be reopened with 100
percent of the mine waste used to make ceramic tiles, according to David Watkinson, vice president of operations at the closed mine.

“We have a tremendous mining resource here,” Watkinson said.

Numerous steps, including the environmental review, which could take about a year, remain before the plant could reopen, Watkinson said.

Thursday’s session is designed for citizens to offer their input on what potential environmental impacts should be studied.

Less than half of the mining land, which is spread out in about 140 acres off of Idaho-Maryland Road, would be developed for operations, Watkinson said. Trees would be added as buffer zones, he said.

A four-way stop at Spring Hill Drive, Idaho-Maryland Road and Centennial Drive is another key road improvement proposed because of anticipated traffic flow increases, Watkinson said. “At some point,” Spring Hill Drive could connect with Dorsey Drive, he added.

The proposed mine leaves enough room for the possible trail next to Wolf Creek known as the Wolf Creek Parkway, Watkinson said.

Watkinson knows everyone won’t be satisfied with the mine’s proposed reopening.

“There’s a group that’s going to oppose gold mining, no matter what,” Watkinson said. “They think (gold) is just there to make jewelry, but it’s used in computers, cell phones, crown fillings and pacemakers.”

If everything goes as mine leaders hope, the operation could open in 2010 or 2011, Watkinson said. That’s one or two years after the 72 miles of underground mine tunnels are dewatered, he said. #

http://www.theunion.com/article/20070919/NEWS/109190168

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