Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 11, 2008
4. Water Quality
DRUGS IN WATERWAYS:
Fish and wildlife show adverse effects of drugs in waterways - Associated Press
Secrecy shrouds water test results - Associated Press
Pharmaceuticals found in Coachella Valley water supply; Traces found in drinking water of 41 million Americans - Desert Sun
S.F.'s tap water best in tests, chemists say - San Francisco Chronicle
Officials say SCV water safe to drink - Santa Clarita Signal
Local officials: Don't worry about
Fresno doesn't test, but sure water is drug-free -
PERCHLORATE:
Rialto to be repaid before its ratepayers - San Bernardino County Sun
GOLD RUSH LEGACY:
Sierra Fund Releases Full Report:" Mining's Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the
Assembly Committee Hearings address the issue - YubaNet.com
DRUGS IN WATERWAYS:
Fish and wildlife show adverse effects of drugs in waterways
Associated Press – 3/11/08
By Jeff Donn, Martha Mendoza, and Justin Pricthard, staff writers
Moments later, dozens of stunned fish float to the surface.
Federal scientists scoop them up and transfer them into 50-quart Coleman ice chests for transport to a makeshift lab on the dusty lakeshore. Within the hour, the researchers will club the seven-pound common carps to death, draw their blood, snip out their gonads and pack them in aluminum foil and dry ice.
The specimens will be flown across the country to laboratories where aquatic toxicologists are studying what happens to fish that live in water contaminated with at least 13 different medications - from over-the-counter pain killers to prescription antibiotics and mood stabilizers.
More often than not these days, the laboratory tests bring unwelcome results.
A five-month Associated Press investigation has determined that trace amounts of many of the pharmaceuticals we take to stay healthy are seeping into drinking water supplies, and a growing body of research indicates that this could harm humans.
But people aren't the only ones who consume that water. There is more and more evidence that some animals that live in or drink from streams and lakes are seriously affected.
Pharmaceuticals in the water are being blamed for severe reproductive problems in many types of fish: The endangered razorback sucker and male fathead minnow have been found with lower sperm counts and damaged sperm; some walleyes and male carp have become what are called feminized fish, producing egg yolk proteins typically made only by females.
Meanwhile, female fish have developed male genital organs. Also, there are skewed sex ratios in some aquatic populations, and sexually abnormal bass that produce cells for both sperm and eggs.
There are problems with other wildlife as well: kidney failure in vultures, impaired reproduction in mussels, inhibited growth in algae.
"We have no reason to think that this is a unique situation," says Erik Orsak, an environmental contaminants specialist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, pulling off rubber gloves splattered with fish blood at
More than 100 different pharmaceuticals have been detected in surface waters throughout the world.
"It's inescapable," said Sudeep Chandra, an assistant professor at
While some researchers have captured wildlife and tested it for pharmaceuticals, many more have brought wildlife into their laboratories and exposed them to traces of human pharmaceuticals at levels similar to those found in water, aquatic plants and animals.
The results have been troubling.
Freshwater mussels exposed to tiny amounts of an antidepressant's active ingredient released premature larvae, giving the next generation lower odds of survival; in a separate lab study, the antidepressant also stunted reproduction in tiny fresh water mud snails.
When researchers slid hydras - a tiny polyp that under a microscope looks like a slender jellyfish - into water tainted with minute amounts of pharmaceuticals, their mouths, feet and tentacles stopped growing. While the hydras are minuscule, the implications are grave: Chronic exposure to trace levels of commonly found pharmaceuticals can damage a species at the foundation of a food pyramid.
Tiny zooplankton, another sentinel species, died off in the lab when they were exposed to extremely small amounts of a common drug used to treat humans suffering from internal worms and other digesting parasites.
In a landmark, seven-year study published last year, researchers turned an entire pristine Canadian lake into their laboratory, deliberately dripping the active ingredient in birth control pills into the water in amounts similar to those found to have contaminated aquatic life, plants and water in nature.
After just seven weeks, male fathead minnows began producing yolk proteins, their gonads shrank, and their behavior was feminized - they fought less, floating passively. They also stopped reproducing, resulting in "ultimately, a near extinction of this species from the lake," said the scientists.
While the Canadian study was prompted by human intervention, similar die-offs have occurred in the wild.
In
"The death of those vultures - the fact that you could get a complete collapse of a population due to pharmaceuticals in the environment - that was a powerful thing," said Christian Daughton, an EPA researcher in
In November, at the annual Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry meeting in Milwaukee, 30 new studies related to pharmaceuticals in the environment were presented - hormones found in the Chicago River;
abnormalities in Japanese zebra fish; ibuprofen, gemfibrozil, triclosan and naproxen in the lower
Many of those studies refer to the heralded research at
"Typically we see low levels of sex steroids, limited testicular function, low sperm count, that kind of thing," he said slipping the fish into a holding tank and closing the lid. "We'll have to wait and see about this fellow."
These carp live, eat, reproduce and die at the mouth of what amounts to a 30-mile-long drainage system that starts within the toilets and sinks of the casinos, hotels and homes of
Some 180 million gallons of effluent are discharged into the channel each day from three wastewater treatment plants. The daily sewage discharge is expected to increase to 400 million gallons a day by 2050.
The USGS and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service tracked the channel from its origins, before the inflow from the sewage plants, to where it empties into
Not far from the mouth of the drainage channel - amid the fishing boats and sightseeing tours - water is sucked into a long pipe, destined for a drinking water treatment plant, then
Other communities in
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_8532462
Secrecy shrouds water test results
Associated Press – 3/11/08
By Martha Mendoza, staff writer
When water providers find pharmaceuticals in drinking water, they rarely tell the public. When researchers make the same discoveries, they usually don't identify the cities involved.
There are plenty of reasons offered for the secrecy: concerns about national security, fears of panic, a feeling that the public will not understand - even confidentiality agreements.
"That's a really sensitive subject," said Elaine Archibald, executive director of California Urban Water Agencies, an 11-member organization comprised of the largest water providers in
She said many customers "don't know how to interpret the information. They hear something has been detected in source water and drinking water, and that's cause for alarm - just because it's there."
As The Associated Press documented in a five-month investigation, drinking water provided to at least 41 million people living in 24 major metropolitan areas has tested positive for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals.
Most Americans probably think they have a good idea of what's being detected in their water. Federal law requires water providers to distribute annual "consumer confidence reports" that reveal levels of regulated contaminants.
Providers are not, however, required to tell people if they find a contaminant that is not on a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency list. And there are no pharmaceuticals on the EPA list.
In
Initially balking at the AP's request to provide test results, Philadelphia Water Department spokeswoman Laura Copeland said, "It would be irresponsible to communicate to the public about this issue, as doing so would only generate questions that scientific research has not yet answered. We don't want to create the perception where people would be alarmed."
The AP learned that the New York state health department and the U.S. Geological Survey detected heart medicine, infection fighters, estrogen, anti-convulsants, a mood stabilizer and the active ingredient in an anti-anxiety medication in the city's watershed upstate. And the city's Department of Environmental Protection ultimately said that it does not test its downstate drinking water.
Officials in
Mayor Robert Cluck later said a trace amount of one pharmaceutical had survived the treatment process and had been detected in drinking water. He declined to name the drug, saying identifying it could cause a terrorist to intentionally release more of it, causing significant harm to residents.
"I don't want to take that chance," Cluck said. "There is no public hazard and I don't want to create one."
Ron Rhodes, water treatment plant supervisor in
How, Rhodes was asked, could it endanger anyone to know if
"We're not putting out more information than we have to put out," said
When asked what power the EPA had to require public disclosure when pharmaceutical contamination is discovered in a water provider's supplies, Benjamin H. Grumbles, the agency's assistant administrator for water, said, "We work very closely with utilities across the country and we encourage them to share with their community information they find out about their source water."
But there's no such requirement if the detected contaminant is not regulated under the Safe Drinking Water Act, he said in response to a question.
Grumbles was asked how he thought water providers have been responding to the EPA's "encouragement."
"I think we have more work to do," he said.
Several hours after the interview, Grumbles issued a statement: "As head of the National Water Program, I will do everything in my authority to make certain that public water suppliers inform their consumers if they detect pharmaceuticals in the drinking water."
It's not just the water departments that have failed to disclose such information.
The AP spoke with many scientists, federally funded researchers, university professors and private drinking water experts who have detected pharmaceuticals in drinking water, but would not say where they had obtained their samples.
Archibald said her organization joined an American Water Works Association Research Foundation study with the understanding that secrecy would be assured.
"We agreed ahead of time that no specific agency would be mentioned in terms of which place had detections," Archibald said. She insisted that even she didn't have the test results. "It's all being held very carefully. Water agencies were assigned numbers so none of us would even know what was detected in each other's water."
Robert Renner, the foundation's executive director, said AWWARF study participants are routinely promised anonymity. "Being involved in a study, they don't want this information blown out all over," he said.
Citing confidentiality agreements, he declined to name the 20 different drinking water treatment plants around the
"It's a hard topic to talk about without creating fear in the general public," Renner said.
Some said those fears could lead to much larger problems than the actual contamination.
Doctors "don't want people to be afraid to take their medicine because of environmental concerns," said Virginia Cunningham, an environmental executive for drug maker GlaxoSmithKline PLC.
Utilities also generally only allow scientists to test their water if they ensure confidentiality. In order for research to progress, scientists "need the confidence of utilities and other public/private stakeholders to allow us access to waters which we can study without any negative implications for those stakeholders," said Howard Weinberg, an environmental chemist at
John Vargo, program manager at the
Peter Rogers,
"We're chasing this down to molecular-sized measurements, so the more you look, the more you find," said
"I think the government and utilities are quite right to be very skittish about telling people their results. People will claim it is causing all sorts of problems. If I were a water utility, I would stop those measurements right away because if you measure something, it will get out, and people will overreact. I can just imagine a whole slew of lawsuits."
National Writer Jeff Donn and writer Justin Pritchard also contributed to this report. The AP National Investigative Team can be reached at investigateap.org. #
http://www.thereporter.com//ci_8531679?IADID=Search-www.thereporter.com-www.thereporter.com
Pharmaceuticals found in Coachella Valley water supply; Traces found in drinking water of 41 million Americans
Desert Sun – 3/11/08
By staff and wire reports
The Coachella Valley Water District participated in a water industry research study that tested for pharmaceuticals locally.
Two local wells were tested in 2006, district assistant general manager Mark Beuhler said. One showed no drug contamination. Another showed traces of three drugs - out of 70 searched for - in the parts-per-trillion range, he said.
Two of the locally detected drugs were anti-seizure medicines taken by epileptics. The third was a sulpha-based antibiotic, Beuhler said.
"To get the size of a dose of these drugs that a doctor would prescribe, you'd have to have drank at least 40 million gallons of water," he said.
"But they are in the environment, and they're fairly persistent. Normal wastewater treatment and drinking water treatment doesn't destroy those things."
Desert Water Agency General Manager David Luker said that while he is unaware of any data specific to his agency's drinking water supply, it's logical to assume the drugs are there as well.
"It's believed to be coming in through wastewater, and we certainly have that. So it stands to reason," he said of the agency in
Residents throughout
To be sure, the concentrations of these pharmaceuticals are tiny, measured in quantities of parts per billion or trillion, far below the levels of a medical dose.
Luker said Desert Water Agency's water is tested multiple times per year to ensure it exceeds state and federal water quality standards. He added that he believes the water remains safe despite the trace amounts of drugs uncovered in the AP inquiry.
But the presence of so many prescription drugs - and over-the-counter medicines like acetaminophen and ibuprofen - in so much of Americans' drinking water is heightening worries among scientists of long-term consequences to human health.
How do they get there?
In the course of a five-month inquiry, the AP discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas - from Southern California to northern
Water providers rarely disclose results of pharmaceutical screenings, unless pressed, the AP found. For example, the head of a group representing major
How do the drugs get into the water?
People take pills. Their bodies absorb some of the medication, but the rest of it passes through and is flushed down the toilet. The wastewater is treated before it is discharged into reservoirs, rivers or lakes. Then, some of the water is cleansed again at drinking-water treatment plants and piped to consumers. But most treatments do not remove all drug residue.
And while researchers do not yet understand the exact risks from decades of persistent exposure to random combinations of low levels of pharmaceuticals, recent studies - which have gone virtually unnoticed by the general public - have found alarming effects on human cells and wildlife.
"We recognize it is a growing concern, and we're taking it very seriously," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Key test results
Members of the AP National Investigative Team reviewed hundreds of scientific reports, analyzed federal drinking water databases, visited environmental study sites and treatment plants and interviewed more than 230 officials, academics and scientists. They also surveyed the nation's 50 largest cities and a dozen other major water providers, as well as smaller community water providers in all 50 states.
Here are some of the key test results obtained by the AP:
Officials in
Anti-epileptic and anti-anxiety medications were detected in a portion of the treated drinking water for 18.5 million people in
Researchers at the U.S. Geological Survey analyzed a Passaic Valley Water Commission drinking-water treatment plant, which serves 850,000 people in northern
A sex hormone was detected in
The drinking water for
Three medications, including an antibiotic, were found in drinking water supplied to
Requirements to test
The situation is undoubtedly worse than suggested by the positive test results in the major population centers documented by the AP.
The federal government doesn't require any testing and hasn't set safety limits for drugs in water.
Of the 62 major water providers contacted, the drinking water for only 28 was tested. Among the 34 that haven't been:
Some providers screen only for one or two pharmaceuticals, leaving open the possibility that others are present.
The AP's investigation also indicates that watersheds, the natural sources of most of the nation's water supply, also are contaminated. Tests were conducted in the watersheds of 35 of the 62 major providers surveyed by the AP, and pharmaceuticals were detected in 28.
Yet officials in six of those 28 metropolitan areas said they did not go on to test their drinking water - Fairfax, Va.; Montgomery County in Maryland; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Santa Clara; and New York City.
The
City water officials declined repeated requests for an interview. In a statement, they insisted that "
Of the 28 major metropolitan areas where tests were performed on drinking water supplies, only
The AP also contacted 52 small water providers - one in each state, and two each in
Rural consumers who draw water from their own wells aren't in the clear either, experts say.
The
He suspects it escapes from failed septic tanks, maybe with other drugs.
"Septic systems are essentially small treatment plants that are essentially unmanaged and therefore tend to fail," Aufdenkampe said.
Even users of bottled water and home filtration systems don't necessarily avoid exposure. Bottlers, some of which simply repackage tap water, do not typically treat or test for pharmaceuticals, according to the industry's main trade group. The same goes for the makers of home filtration systems.
Contamination is not confined to the
For example, in
In the
Perhaps it's because Americans have been taking drugs - and flushing them unmetabolized or unused - in growing amounts. Over the past five years, the number of
"People think that if they take a medication, their body absorbs it and it disappears, but of course that's not the case," said EPA scientist Christian Daughton, one of the first to draw attention to the issue of pharmaceuticals in water in the
Some drugs, including widely used cholesterol fighters, tranquilizers and anti-epileptic medications, resist modern drinking water and wastewater treatment processes. Plus, the EPA says there are no sewage treatment systems specifically engineered to remove pharmaceuticals.
"This is not a new thing," Beuhler said. "These compounds have been in the water ever since people started taking drugs to treat illness. The main difference is our instruments are getting better. We're able to look down to these low levels."
One technology, reverse osmosis, removes virtually all pharmaceutical contaminants but is very expensive for large-scale use and leaves several gallons of polluted water for every one that is made drinkable.
Another issue: There's evidence that adding chlorine, a common process in conventional drinking water treatment plants, makes some pharmaceuticals more toxic.
Human waste isn't the only source of contamination. Cattle, for example, are given ear implants that provide a slow release of trenbolone, an anabolic steroid used by some bodybuilders, which causes cattle to bulk up. But not all the trenbolone circulating in a steer is metabolized. A German study showed 10 percent of the steroid passed right through the animals.
Ask the pharmaceutical industry whether the contamination of water supplies is a problem, and officials will tell you no.
"Based on what we now know, I would say we find there's little or no risk from pharmaceuticals in the environment to human health," said microbiologist Thomas White, a consultant for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
But at a conference last summer, Mary Buzby - director of environmental technology for drug maker Merck & Co. Inc. - said: "There's no doubt about it, pharmaceuticals are being detected in the environment and there is genuine concern that these compounds, in the small concentrations that they're at, could be causing impacts to human health or to aquatic organisms."
Recent laboratory research has found that small amounts of medication have affected human embryonic kidney cells, human blood cells and human breast cancer cells. The cancer cells proliferated too quickly; the kidney cells grew too slowly; and the blood cells showed biological activity associated with inflammation.
Also, pharmaceuticals in waterways are damaging wildlife across the nation and around the globe, research shows.
Notably, male fish are being feminized, creating egg yolk proteins, a process usually restricted to females.
Pharmaceuticals also are affecting sentinel species at the foundation of the pyramid of life - such as earth worms in the wild and zooplankton in the laboratory, studies show.
Some scientists stress that the research is extremely limited, and there are too many unknowns. They say, though, that the documented health problems in wildlife are disconcerting.
"It brings a question to people's minds that if the fish were affected ... might there be a potential problem for humans?" EPA research biologist Vickie Wilson told the AP. "It could be that the fish are just exquisitely sensitive because of their physiology or something. We haven't gotten far enough along."
With limited research funds, said Shane Snyder, research and development project manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority, a greater emphasis should be put on studying the effects of drugs in water.
"I think it's a shame that so much money is going into monitoring to figure out if these things are out there, and so little is being spent on human health," said Snyder. "They need to just accept that these things are everywhere - every chemical and pharmaceutical could be there. It's time for the EPA to step up to the plate and make a statement about the need to study effects, both human and environmental." #
http://search.mydesert.com/sp?aff=1100&skin=100&keywords=water&x=14&y=20
S.F.'s tap water best in tests, chemists say
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/11/08
By Jane Kay, staff writer
Chemists who tested drinking water from 20 utilities nationwide said they did not detect any contaminants at all at
"We didn't detect anything whatsoever," said Shane Snyder, research manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority who helped coordinate a study by the research arm of the nation's water utilities.
The American Waterworks Association Research Foundation tested 20 of the nation's water systems, including
"You guys have the best water that we tested. Period," Snyder said of
In a story about test results of the nation's drinking water quality, the Associated Press reported Sunday that much of the supply contains traces of pharmaceuticals, solvents and other contaminants.
Among its findings, the news agency said
In fact, no such compounds turned up in
The mistake apparently resulted from confusion over the waterworks foundation's laboratory test results conveyed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to the Associated Press. The news service said it was looking into the matter.
Snyder said the misunderstanding apparently occurred because of the results of an additional tissue test that showed barely detectable levels of estrogenicity, or activity by estrogen-like chemicals at parts per quadrillion, Snyder said.
The estrogenicity levels in that test were even lower than in the highly pristine water being used by the researchers for quality control, Snyder said.
National reports of
The city claims bragging rights over pure Hetch Hetchy Reservoir water surrounded by nearly 500 square miles of
While other cities in the
It's unclear whether any other water purveyors in the Bay Area participated in the waterworks research foundation's testing of surface and drinking water. The results are kept secret, and only the utilities can reveal them, as
Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for the San Francisco PUC, said the utilities need to know which chemicals are going to be a problem.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/11/BAH9VHE23.DTL
Officials say SCV water safe to drink
Santa Clarita Signal – 3/11/08
By Jim Holt, staff writer
Despite reports that trace amounts of pharmaceuticals have been found in water supplies across the country, Santa Clarita residents are drinking safe, clean water, local water officials said Monday.
"The water here is safe to drink - that's the bottom line," said Steve Cole, general manager of Newhall County Water District.
An Associated Press investigation revealed that a vast array of pharmaceuticals - including antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones - have been found in the drinking water supplies of at least 41 million Americans.
Cole and other water officials contacted by The Signal said the AP study is more about the sophistication of the latest testing technology than about the minute traces of chemicals found in the water examined.
"It's a story about how the testing has become so developed," Cole said. "Toxicology hasn't kept up because we don't know what the affects of these trace amounts are."
The AP story reported tiny concentrations of pharmacy drugs in drinking water, quantities measured in parts per trillion.
Newhall County Water District was not contacted by AP for the study. Cole said.
Dan Masnada, general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, the valley's water wholesaler, echoed a comment made by one of his peers who responded to concerns over water quality: "In order for any of these drugs to have any affect on a human being, that person would have to drink 120 Olympic-sized swimming pools of water."
Masnada was asked if his agency has any data to indicate the amount, if any, of pharmaceuticals in local water supplies.
"No we don't," he said.
"But, obviously, we are concerned about public health," he said. "It wasn't too long ago that we were able to report finding chemicals in parts per billion. The issue here is more about our ability to detect the presence of these chemicals.
"The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) needs to do more studies on this subject," he said about the cumulative effects, if any, of pharmaceuticals found in trace amounts of water supplies.
"The parts per trillion would not be detrimental to human health. However, the threshold may be lower for fish affected, and that's something that should be looked at," Masnada said.
The Castaic Lake Water Agency provides water for four local water retailers, including Newhall, Valencia Water Co. and Santa Clarita Water Division.
Masnada said the quality of CLWA water meets public health standards.
"The department of public health regularly monitors our treatment process," he said. "This is not about achieving a zero level (for trace amounts of any chemical); it's about ensuring that our water is safe to drink."
To put the pharmaceutical concentration into perspective, Santa Clarita water drinkers should bear in mind that the legislated threshold for some known carcinogens allows for 80 parts of a cancer-causing chemical to be present in one billion parts of water.
For example, the EPA has set a threshold for the amount of bromate - a known animal carcinogen - in water at 10 parts per billion.
One of the water districts contacted by the AP is the Santa Clara Valley Water District near
Like the Castaic Lake Water Agency, it is a member of the State Water Project, mandated to provide its constituents with a safe, reliable supply of drinking water.
But, before AP reporters came knocking, water was already being tested and treated for trace amounts of pharmaceuticals, a spokeswoman for the
"The Santa Clara Valley Water District has been pro-active in this area and has been doing some testing for pharmaceuticals," said spokesman Susan Siravo. "We have found only minute traces of pharmaceuticals in raw water testing. The testing is so precise we can test for amounts in parts per trillion."
This means for every trillion parts of water, there's one part of the pharmaceutical. Some scientists, in trying to put the ratio in perspective, have described one part per billion as one penny found in $10 million.
The water agency near
http://newmedia.the-signal.com/news/article/745
Local officials: Don't worry about
Redding Record Searchlight – 3/11/08
By Dylan Darling, staff writer
Although
"We are blessed in the city of
The city spends $50,000 to $100,000 each year testing for arsenic, lead and other contaminants, as required by the state Department of Public Health and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, he said. But pharmaceuticals -- passed into drinking water via treated wastewater -- aren't on either state or EPA required testing lists.
"There are no guidelines for (them),"
The issue is rising to the surface though, with the Associated Press this week releasing its findings of a five-month look at drugs that have been detected in the drinking water supplies of 24 major metropolitan areas.
"We are looking into this to evaluate the potential health effects," said Allyn Stern, spokeswoman in the EPA's
She said the presence of pharmaceuticals in drinking water supplies is an emerging issue and that the EPA is still investigating.
The technology to test for pharmaceuticals in drinking water is just being developed, said Susanne Buggy, spokeswoman for the state public health department in
"There are no known health risks," she said.
Clark said while the topic is just now reaching the general public, those who work with municipal water started talking about it three or four years ago.
The more cities and towns releasing treated wastewater upstream, the greater the likelihood there will be pharmaceuticals in a community's drinking water, he said.
Not many towns are releasing wastewater upstream of
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/mar/11/local-officials-dont-worry-about-reddings-water/
Fresno doesn't test, but sure water is drug-free
When that day comes -- and Martin believes it will -- he is confident
"Luckily for the city of
Officials believe drinking water supplies are clean because of the region's geography and the distance between wells and the waste-water treatment plant.
Martin said both
The drinking water in other metropolitan areas where testing found pharmaceuticals often is drawn from the same source where treated water is discharged, places such as reservoirs or rivers.
In
Still, in 2003 and 2004, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required the city to test a 25-square-mile area around the wastewater treatment plant, Martin said. Though the test was not specifically for pharmaceuticals, none were found in the test, he said.
Asked whether there was a chance pharmaceuticals could be found in
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/454905.html
PERCHLORATE:
By Jason Pesick, staff writer
The bad news is that, although customers have been paying for the team of lawyers and consultants through a surcharge on their water bills, no quick reimbursement is in sight.
But policies enacted by the City Council since 2004 indicate that the city and its water department, which serves about half the city, get repaid after legal settlements and judgements before the customers.
"I think it's a fair discussion to reconsider that," said City Councilwoman Winnie Hanson, a member of the council's perchlorate subcommittee.
The first settlement in the perchlorate matter is being finalized with
The surcharge customers pay starts at $6.85 per bill and increases with consumption.
Longtime resident Mary Moton said the perchlorate charge on her last monthly water bill of $69.44 was $9.27.
"I think we should get all our money back. That's fair," she said.
When the council established the surcharge in 2004, it passed a policy that states the first priority is repaying the water department, plus an extra $1.5 million for the department's reserves.
That repayment includes $5 million to City Council transferred from the General Fund reserves to the water department in November 2006 to pursue polluters.
After the city receives from polluters an amount equal to half the surcharges collected, ratepayers will be able to be reimbursed.
In recent months, Councilman Ed Scott, the other member of the perchlorate subcommittee, has said the ratepayers should be reimbursed before the water and general funds.
"That's my preference," he said.
Hanson said the council will probably have to examine the issue. She said members meeting in closed session would decide whether they want to vote on the issue in open session.
Hanson said she hasn't come down on one side of the issue yet. Her determination will include a number of factors, including the fiscal health of various city accounts.
Some residents don't seem to be conflicted.
"I think that the citizens should be paid back first. They didn't waste any time in taking the money out,"
"It seems like the city puts these kinds of things together frequently that the
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_8527740?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
GOLD RUSH LEGACY:
Sierra Fund Releases Full Report:" Mining's Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the
Assembly Committee Hearings address the issue
YubaNet.com – 3/7/08
By the Sierra Fund
The Sierra Fund released Mining's Toxic Legacy: An Initiative to Address Mining Toxins in the
The Sierra Fund worked with researchers at California State University Chico, tribal representatives, government scientists, conservation leaders and medical professionals to develop the report.
"All Californians should take note of The Sierra Fund's findings. This issue affects the fish we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. And we are only just beginning to appreciate the magnitude of the problem," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, who chairs the Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee. "While over a dozen state and federal agencies are working to resolve the existing risks to public safety and the environment we inherited from the gold rush era, just over 5 percent of the state's abandoned mine sites have been inventoried at this point. Assessing the remaining mine sites and addressing existing risks swiftly and effectively will require close collaboration between stakeholders and state, federal and local government. This hearing lays the groundwork for that effort."
"We learned that, though well-known toxins are present throughout the land and water of the Sierra Nevada, there has never been any research into the health impacts of this ongoing exposure on Sierra residents," notes
The Hearing
At the hearing, Martin presented a summary of the report to members of the three Assembly Committees, highlighting top priorities for the state legislature to address this year, calling for the state to do a thorough assessment of state owned lands for mining toxins, and to prepare and fund a plan for remediation in collaboration with area residents and tribes. She also called for development of a new Mining Toxin Working Group with university and agency scientists, tribes and other community leaders to learn more about human health impacts, distribution and behavior of toxins, and how to remediate mining toxins. Other top recommendations for action this year include directing the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to coordinate these efforts among local, state and federal agencies, and calling for reform of suction dredging for gold mining regulations.
Speakers at the hearing included Don Ryberg of the Tsi-Akim Maidu Tribe, Dr. Charles Alpers of USGS, Rick Humphreys from the State Water Resources Control Board, Cy Oggins from California Department of Conservation Abandoned Mine Lands Unit, scientists from CALFED, Kathryn Tobias from California State Parks, and Dr. Carrie Monohan from the Sierra Nevada Science Institute. All speakers presented information about the health, environmental or cultural impacts of the Gold Rush. In addition, more than a dozen members of the public spoke at the conclusion of the hearing, urging the Assembly to take action to address mining's toxic legacy.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Assemblywoman Wolk indicated that The Sierra Fund's report would help to advise future legislative efforts on this topic.
The Report
Mining's Toxic Legacy discusses the environmental impacts of historic mining techniques, such as using hydraulic canons to blow down the sides of mountains, or hard rock mines that dug hundreds of miles of tunnel through rock. It documents the widespread distribution of toxins associated with mining, such as mercury used for gold mining, or naturally occurring toxic minerals such as arsenic and asbestos in mine tailings that were crushed and redistributed throughout the region.
Other important findings:
* Reservoirs in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada that form the headwaters of
* High levels of arsenic or asbestos fibers in mine tailings may constitute a health hazard to children riding dirt bikes or people working on or with these materials as part of construction, forestry or other activities that disturb soil. Research is needed to document the distribution of and potential exposures to these naturally occurring toxic materials.
* New studies indicate that suction dredging for gold mining spreads mercury in the environment. Regulations governing suction dredging are outdated.
The Sierra Fund report calls for the new Sierra Nevada Conservancy to be funded to serve as a coordinator for many of the actions recommended in the report. Another top priority is the need for new, strategic investments by government and private philanthropic sources in research, education and cleanup.
The Initiative lays out four strategic recommendations, including:
1. Increase collaboration and research, including the formation of a Mining Toxins Working Group made up of researchers at the
2. Improve outreach and education about the long-term impacts of the Gold Rush to improve community awareness of potential problems with exposure to mining toxins and encourage participation by residents of the region.
3. Improve education in the medical community, including increased training and information to ensure that symptoms of mining toxin exposure are well understood and that monitoring the human population for exposure mining toxins is improved.
4. Reform and fund government programs at the local, state and federal level. Among the fourteen recommendations for action, the report calls for a thorough assessment of state and federal lands to be immediately undertaken, and remediation plans developed and funded.
A Gold Ribbon Panel of experts advised the process including development of the policy recommendations. Agency Science and Policy Advisors provided the authors with an understanding of the issues and policies associated with historic mining.
The report was funded by grants from The California Endowment, True North Foundation and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund.
Full Report: PDF of Mining's Toxic Legacy report:
http://www.sierrafund.org/campaigns/pdf/Miningstoxiclegacy.pdf
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