Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 27, 2008
4. Water Quality –
Vandals assault water tank
Supply serving Las Lomas is quarantined
The
PG&E to drill new test wells to help monitor toxic plume
Mohave Daily News
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Vandals assault water tank
Supply serving Las Lomas is quarantined
The
By Maria Ines Zamudio
The Sheriff's Office and California Water Service Co. are warning residents who live between Sill to Garin roads not to drink the tap water until the water company says otherwise. The tank, at the end of
On Saturday morning,
Mike Jones, assistant district manager for the California Water Service Co., said the company noticed the vandalism during a routine visit to the water tank Saturday.
Jones said the lock to the ladder was missing, and when a California Water Service employee checked the tank, he noticed the hatch at the top had been forced opened. The water company notified the Sheriff's Office, took a sample of the water for testing and started flushing the system by moving water through it, he said. The company also contacted the
The Sheriff's Office Investigations Unit, including detectives and forensic personnel, are conducting a comprehensive probe into the vandalism, the Sheriff's Office said.
Artie Bell, 88, who's been living in her home in Las Lomas for 45 years, said she was surprised when an employee from California Water Service came to her door to tell her that she couldn't drink from the sink.
"A lot of people are depending on this water,"
California Water Service offered bottled water to residents in the neighborhood.
Mercury affects health more so when it is inhaled but is most harmful to pregnant women and their wombs, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Web site, www.epa.gov. The Web site states that when a womb is exposed to a specific chemical form of Mercury, it can cause impaired neurological development to the fetus.
Jones said no one from the area reported any illness related to the water contamination. He said that the incident was isolated and that the company has responded diligently with the situation.
"It is unfortunate that this happened," he said. "But we are taking all the right measures."
California Water Service Co. has no connections to California American Water Co., which also serves customers in
http://thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080527/NEWS01/805270315/1002
PG&E to drill new test wells to help monitor toxic plume
Mohave Daily News – 5/25/08
By MARK ASHLE, News West
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NEEDLES - In an ongoing effort to clean up a plume of contaminated groundwater near its Topock Compressor Station in
PG&E has been drilling test wells near its compressor station in
Under the oversight of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, PG&E will install monitoring wells near and beneath the river to collect samples of groundwater and sediments.
The samples will be collected for chemical analysis at each site as the wells are being drilled. Once the wells are completed, groundwater samples will be collected on a regular basis and be analyzed for chromium or other contaminants.
“A couple of different wells will be installed in the course of the next couple of months on the
According to the spokesman, the new wells will be able to provide specific information to help create a long-term plan that will be the most effective.
The final remedy for the situation is not yet known. “All of this investigation that is taking place is to exactly identify where and what the concentrations are and how best to address them. That's all taking place now,” Tremayne said. “One of the possibilities, and we have done a pilot study, is called in-situ treatment.”
According to Tremayne, the contaminated groundwater could be treated with chemicals while underground, turning the hexavalent chromium into benign trivalent chromium.
While no long-term plan has been made, PG&E is taking interim measures to ensure that the
Under the direction of the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, PG&E is pumping 29,000 gallons of water per day out of the ground, treating it to remove the hexavalent chromium and then pumping it back into the ground near the river.
“We've got a number of extraction wells. Think of them like straws. We've got straws down into the heart of the plume and we're sucking on that,” said Tremayne. “Essentially, we're pulling the plume away from the
Monitoring wells determine the direction of the flow of groundwater, and Tremayne said that the wells show that the plume is moving away from the river.
The ADEQ has participated in the investigation and cleanup efforts at the Topock Compressor station, and in 2005 undertook a year-long groundwater study to determine if a long-term threat to human life existed.
The study concluded that there is no immediate threat to human health from drinking groundwater in
http://www.mohavedailynews.com/articles/2008/05/25/news/local/local2.txt
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