Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 4, 2008
4. Water Quality
Sewage spill warning for Richardson Bay - San Francisco Chronicle
MOTHBALL FLEET TO BE REMOVED:
State officials discuss 'Mothball Fleet' removal; Local solution to problem could mean more local jobs -
Dixon sets an appeal on sewage - Woodland Daily Democrat
Tour talks of island cleanup efforts; Flyway Festival event explains M.I. projects - Woodland Daily Democrat
Runoff may have sent pesticide to Merced River - Fresno Bee
FLUORIDE:
Livermore won't add fluoride to water despite state law; LIVERMORE: Voters said no to the additive twice in the 1950s and officials don't believe a change is necessary - Contra Costa Times
Sewage spill warning for Richardson Bay
San Francisco Chronicle – 2/4/08
By Steve Rubenstein, staff writer
Warnings to stay out of
Visitors were advised to avoid swimming and fishing near the site of the spill, at the sewage treatment plant at
Tests showed four times the allowed limit for fecal bacteria in the water near the plant. The levels dropped significantly in
It was unknown how long the health warning would remain in effect.
About 2.7 million gallons of partially treated sewage and storm water was accidentally released Thursday into the bay from the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin. Residents and officials in
Updated information about the spill can be found at the Marin County Sheriff's Web site at sfgate.com/ZCIB. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/04/BAU5URFQU.DTL&hw=water&sn=011&sc=482
MOTHBALL FLEET TO BE REMOVED:
State officials discuss 'Mothball Fleet' removal; Local solution to problem could mean more local jobs
By J. M. Brown, MediaNews staff
State water and environmental agencies are embroiled in a debate with the federal government on how and when to haul the fleet's 74 ships out of the bay. Federal documents show more than 21 tons of metal, including some toxic substances, have fallen into the water as paint peels away after decades of neglect.
The California State Legislature's Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture — chaired by
Two citizen groups that have filed a lawsuit against the Maritime Administration, as well as a
Bruce Wolfe, executive officer of the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Water Quality Control Board, said his ultimate hope is that Maritime Administration will agree to have the ships taken apart or cleaned locally. The board has demanded the administration address serious environmental concerns raised by a federally commissioned study of the fleet in 2006.
A Maritime Administration spokeswoman in
State and federal officials have been squaring off for more than a year. U.S. Coast Guard regulations require that the ships' hulls be cleaned of native or invasive organisms before being towed into the open ocean through the Panama Canal to
Water Board engineers, along with staff at the State Lands Commission and the Department of Fish and Game, are concerned whether the in-water cleaning can be performed without causing more pollution. Tests have shown that hull cleaning causes pollutants to come off the hulls along with organic growth.
While the Maritime Administration determines how to proceed, state officials want assurances that the federal government will at least better maintain the ships, which are stored in the bay without maintenance.
A 2006 analysis of the fleet estimated that more than 21 tons of lead, zinc, barium, copper and other toxic metals have entered the bay from the decaying ships. Another 64 tons was estimated to remain on ships and could enter the water.
Tests on water extracted from sediment samples under the vessels indicated a significant risk to salmon, steeled, striped bass and the endangered Delta smelt. Toxic metals could also be passed on to people who eat fish from the area, said two scientists who read the report.
"We don't know what's on the ships — the Department of Defense has that information," said Fred Euphrates, who is organizing Thursday's hearing as principal consultant to the Joint Committee. "But we do have a pretty good idea of what is coming off the ships."
The Water Board required the Maritime Administration to offer a plan for cleaning the ships in the water without leaving behind more pollutants. But the state has limited powers in enforcing the order or fining federal agencies, Wolfe said.
Wolfe said he hopes the Maritime Administration will agree to have the ships dismantled at
Not all of the ships will fit into the
"That would be a great solution," he said.
Gary Whitney, founding partner of Defense Allied Recycling, a shipbuilding and repair company on
In the meantime, Wolfe acknowledged that the debate with the federal government about the best way to dispose of the fleet "is not something that is going to be resolved in a short period of time." But he said he hopes Thursday's hearing will provide a unified way forward for state agencies who want to rid the bay of a big polluter.
"Even if we're able to come up with a suitable means for cleaning the ships, during that time they are continuing to rust and fall part," Wolfe said. "They are letting some of paint fall in or blow in the bay. At worst, they could rust through and fall apart on site." #
Woodland Daily Democrat – 2/1/08
By Melissa Murphy, staff writer
The city of
The City Council decided Thursday evening against paying the fine levied for not following a Cease and Desist Order from the regional board in regard to
"I think we're going down the right road for an appeal," said Mayor Mary Ann Courville. "I think it's really important to stay active and keep the lines of communication open and cooperate with the water board."
For more than 10 years, the water board has urged
Since 2005, when the most recent Cease and Desist Order was issued, the city has satisfactorily completed only four requirements and still needs to address at least eight other criteria, according to a letter sent to the city from the water board.
Those missed criteria include two reports of information and six items of project construction, according to City Engineer Royce Cunningham.
In total, the city is required to meet 17 different requirements by October 2009.
Cunningham explained that there are circumstances for the deadlines being missed and that those reasons should be included in the city's appeal to the water board.
"We have a number of good arguments for an appeal," he said. "We will look at every avenue to provide information about our case."
The City Council approved a rate increase in 2006 to support the sale of revenue bonds for completion of the programs and projects in regard to
That decision, however, was repealed by voters.
A citizens advisory Wastewater Committee then was appointed by the council to come up with a solution.
The committee presented the council in October with a series of recommendations for capital projects and programs to address wastewater issues, including a request for a revised Cease and Desist Order.
Such a revised order would describe the capital projects, programs and a specific timeline to accomplish implementation.
"I still feel positive about the revised Cease and Desist Order," Cunningham said.
Cunningham also explained that the water board could choose to redirect the fine into something that would benefit the city.
City staff plans to come to the council with a response to the water board before the February deadline. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com//ci_8139507?IADID=Search-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com
Tour talks of island cleanup efforts; Flyway Festival event explains M.I. projects
Woodland Daily Democrat – 2/3/08
By Andrea Wolf, Times-Herald staff writer
Thousands of pounds of soil are being removed because of harmful toxins, wetlands are being restored and munitions are being cleared in a massive environmental cleanup project on
After decades of naval activity,
Despite wet and windy weather Saturday, people from around the Bay Area came out to tour several cleanup sites and learn how the island is being repaired.
The bus tour, led by Michael Bloom of the Mare Island Restoration Advisory Board, was part of the 12th annual San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival, which kicked off in
"It's good to have a chance to invite the community out to show them what we're doing out here," Bloom said.
The festival, held every winter, celebrates the migration of shorebirds, ducks, geese and other birds through the San Francisco Bay Estuary. The three day event, which ends today, hosts numerous guided walks, boat and bus tours, wildlife expositions and opportunities to appreciate wetlands, open spaces and historic sites.
The tour explored two sites still owned by the Navy, two sites owned by
A major task is the removal of soils contaminated over the years, such as the first site on the tour that has been cleaned of black, gooey blobs of oil that apparently traveled from an oil sump box that used to be nearby, said Marie Dryer, a Navy remedial project manager.
The site, located on
Now that the site has been cleaned, Dryer said the area is slated to be developed into an industrial commercial center.
A little farther west on
The spot was used as the Navy's primary disposal site on the island, and was filled with cables, abrasive blasting material, oily material, wood, asbestos, batteries, concrete and metal, said Dwight Gemar, a project manager for Weston Solutions.
While also doing extensive clean up on the 230-acre site, the project includes replacing non-tidal wetlands that were covered because of the extent of contamination.
The wetlands are important because they provide a habitat for the salt marsh harvest mouse, an endangered animal that thrives among the dense growths of pickleweed, Gemar said.
Gemar said the goal of this particular site is to isolate - and then dry up - the contaminated ground water "which we have already started to see happen."
When the project is complete the area will be limited most likely to open space, but there are plans to add public access trails.
The two sites owned by Lennar require extra thorough clean up, since the areas will contain new single-family homes, said Neal Siler, who does environmental work for Lennar.
One site, at buildings 231 and 243, was once the main vehicle facility where the Navy refueled and maintained cars, trucks and even locomotives.
The area is contaminated with a large amount of gas that must be removed people can live there, Siler said.
Initially, the amount of gas was so high "the first time I saw the soil samples I thought it was a mistake and someone accidentally multiplied the numbers by 1,000 instead of dividing by 1,000," Siler said.
Another planned residential site is filled with dangerous substances left from the demolition of a building, built in 1955, that was used as an electrical shop.
"It's full of building materials that everyone thought were safe that we have since found out are not," Siler said.
Lennar has tried to recycle or reuse as much as possible, such as crushing the building's concrete to reuse in creating roads, he said.
Crews must be particularly careful at this site because of its proximity to St. Peter's Chapel and the danger that construction vibrations might damage the treasured Tiffany stained-glass windows, Siler said.
The final site visited was used by the Navy to dump abrasive blast material used to sandblast paint and barnacles off ship hulls.
"The Navy had a lot of substance left over and used it as fill material when a site was escavated, as if it was clean soil," Dryer said.
Diane Malucelli, who came to the Flyway Festival from
"It was a wonderful tour, everyone was very helpful and interesting," Malucelli said.
Jeanie Kuta and Mike Miller, who both live in
"We are here every day and always wondered what exactly was going on," Kuta said. "I was impressed with what they are doing to clean up all these spots."
Flyway Festival co-founder and coordinator Myrna Hayes said normally Saturday's tour is given for members of the Restoration Advisory Board, but when Bloom suggested the tour be part of this weekend's events, she was happy to include it.
"We want to show people that clean up makes reuse possible, and that's the message," Hayes said. "Coming to the (RAB) meetings isn't always the most interesting and we wanted to find other ways for people to fall in love with this wonderful place."
Flyway festival events continue throughout the day and information about event times and details can be found online at http://sfbayflywayfestival.com. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com//ci_8157493?IADID=Search-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com
Runoff may have sent pesticide to Merced River
By Carol Reiter and Dhyana Levey,
Scrambling to spray orchards during January's rainstorms, a local orchard owner apparently sprayed trees illegally, fouling the
The East San Joaquin Water Quality Coalition, a nonprofit group serving as a buffer between local growers and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, found a harmful pesticide in the river after several tests.
The group sampled the water at its
"Organophosphates are bad stuff," Klassen said.
They are toxic to aquatic invertebrates -- small insects that the river's fish feed on, said eco-toxicology scientist Michael Johnson, the coalition's technical program manager.
The coalition tests local waterways throughout the year and is required to sample water twice in the winter after storm events. While the
Klassen said the pesticides most likely came from an almond orchard upriver. "The growers are trying to spray while the orchards are still dormant, before the bloom starts in February," Klassen said.
Regulations prohibit spraying pesticides within 48 hours of a storm because runoff can carry the pesticides into nearby rivers or streams.
Klassen said his coalition has urged growers to spray their dormant orchards during November and December, when there normally is less rain. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/369788.html
FLUORIDE:
Contra Costa Times – 2/4/08
By Eric Kurhi, staff writer
Despite a state law passed more than a decade ago requiring communities to fluoridate their tap water,
It has nothing to do with still-alive-and-kicking conspiracy theories or even the cost of fluoridating -- at least directly.
Councilman John Marchand, who used to serve on the Zone 7 water board and works as a chemist for the Alameda County Water District, said the reason
"Most communities in the Bay Area put it on the ballot and voted for it," he said.
Since then, it just hasn't come up, Marchand said.
In addition to
The 1995 law requiring fluoridation stipulates that cities with more than 10,000 water connections -- or about 25,000 people -- add the element if it is financially feasible.
While national estimates hold that the cost of such a change would amount to about 50 cents a person per year in
"Once you start fluoridating, you have to put the monitoring programs in place," he said. "And there are hazards involved. Fluoride in the water is not hazardous (under normal circumstances), but it is when in its concentrated form."
And besides, Marchand said, water isn't the only source of fluoride, and not the most effective way to get it.
"It's a topical treatment, and there are all kinds of toothpastes and mouth rinses out there that contain fluoride," he said.
Merit still debated
While some studies have suggested detrimental effects of fluoride, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other public health groups maintain that it is safe.
And Howard Pollick of the UC San Francisco school of dentistry said there remains a need for it in tap water.
"It's still very necessary," he said. "We just saw some results from the
But some people say otherwise. Many Web sites link fluoride to problems with teeth, bones, the brain and the thyroid gland.
With a large amount of exposure, it causes fluorosis, a discoloration of the teeth. It was the brown yet cavity-free smiles of
Since then, scientists have tweaked the amount of fluoride added to water to find a balance at 1 part per million -- less than what is found naturally in black tea, raisins and white wine.
Old concerns
Marchand said he sometimes fields calls from residents concerned about fluoride levels.
"I hear from people who tell me, 'There's fluoride in rat poison,'" Marchand said. "Well, there's chocolate in rat poison, too."
Marchand said some of the more radical suspicions were planted by
"Do you know where that comes from?" he said. "It's not from the 1950s, it's from 1964, a joke in Stanley Kubrick's 'Dr Strangelove' that was done tongue-in-cheek. But it got so ingrained that people remember the conspiracy but not where it's from."
While there is a program to get state funding for the process, Randy Warner of the city's public works department said Livermore is "way down on the list."
And the last vote, by 2,438 people in 1958, set a precedent the city abides by to this day, Warner said.
"Staff made it available, but the people didn't want it," he said. "It's difficult for city staff to do something that goes against what the public decided." #
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