Readers

By Jeff Hatch-Miller

New rule could bankrupt Arizona water firms

In “Arsenic and Old Lace,” the eccentric Brewster sisters acted in charity by serving elderberry wine mixed with arsenic to lonely old men. After the men died of the concoction, the women’s crazy nephew buried the “yellow fever” victims in their basement.

While this movie amused audiences, no one is laughing about the new federal arsenic water standard. Small water companies across Arizona will be hit with an estimated $130 million in compliance costs.

In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced its decision to lower the arsenic content in drinking water from 50 to 10 parts per billion by Jan. 23, 2006. Recent studies suggest continued ingestion of arsenic might lead to some forms of cancer and other health problems. The new standard affects every public water system in the nation.

Meeting the stricter EPA standard will be difficult for Arizona because arsenic is naturally occurring in the soil. Arsenic in groundwater occurs when water seeps through the soil into the water table. For many rural Arizona communities, groundwater is the primary source of drinking water.

EPA’s ruling affects 287 small water systems, including many private water companies, and their 340,000 customers throughout Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is the agency responsible for enforcing the EPA standard. Through its Arsenic Master Plan, ADEQ has simplified compliance requirements and listed the most cost-effective solutions for small water systems.

Depending on the severity of its arsenic problem, a water provider can either blend different water sources to an acceptable level or install treatment systems. By the Jan. 23, 2006, deadline, ADEQ is required by the EPA to impose monetary fines or other sanctions, including shutting down any water system that doesn’t achieve the standard.

In the meantime, the Arizona Corporation Commission is working closely with ADEQ to educate private water companies about the EPA standard and the various available treatment options. The ACC and the state Legislature are working together on ways to implement the tougher arsenic standard.

Moreover, the commissioners have sent a letter and made calls to Arizona’s congressional delegation asking for financial support.

Unfortunately, the new EPA rule requires compliance without providing financial relief to the scores of communities affected in the West. The federal government wants to ensure safe drinking water for all Americans but is unwilling to help the affected communities pay for it. It’s an unfunded mandate.

Without financial help from Washington, Arizona may face a rash of water company bankruptcies, forcing customers to seek alternative sources of water, including drilling wells in arsenic-contaminated groundwater. Or, water may become unaffordable for many customers in rural Arizona as their companies impose steep rate increases to pay for arsenic treatment. Neither option is appealing.

If a safe water supply is important to you, please call or e-mail your U.S. congressmen and ask for their help.

• Sen. John McCain: (202) 224-2235 john_mccain@mccain.senate.gov

• Sen. Jon Kyl: (202) 224-4521 info@kyl.senate.gov

• U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva: (202) 225-2435 www.house.gov/writerep/

• U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe: (202) 225-2542 www.house.gov/writerep/

Jeff Hatch-Miller is a member of the Arizona Corporation Commission. The commission regulates approximately 350 private water companies across the state.

Citizen Staff

Safer water costly

One utility sees ‘huge financial burden’

By TY YOUNG

tyoung@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucsonans are looking forward to cleaner water, thanks to a new federal regulation, but utilities are cringing at what the new rule will cost them.

In 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency said all drinking water in the country must have an arsenic level of 10 parts per billion or fewer. The compliance deadline is January 2006. The current standard is 50 parts per billion.

Some residents applauded the decision, saying they are happy to know their water will be safer.

“I know the arsenic levels are high right now,” said Marana resident Cheryll Bradley, 57, who uses Tucson Water. “It’s scary, to tell the truth.”

Tucson Water serves more than 196,000 households and is the largest water utility in Tucson.

According to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, all drinking water wells in the Tucson area fall under the current threshold. But before 2006, some will need to go through expensive treatment to meet the new standard.

Flowing Wells Irrigation District, which serves 3,500 customers in the area bounded by North Fairview Road and Interstate 10, and West River Road and West Miracle Mile Strip, will “probably not” be able to meet the EPA standard in time, said Dave Crockett, the district’s superintendent.

Of the 10 wells used for drinking water, two must be addressed, he said.

“We’re going to do it as soon as possible,” he said. “It’s going to be a huge financial burden.”

Within the next two months, a consultant will determine what changes are necessary to the wells. Crockett expects the price to be between $750,000 and $1 million per well. The company has already blended two of its wells to reduce arsenic levels, Crockett said.

Financing for large-scale arsenic removal sometimes takes two years, because it often involves building expensive treatment plants and digging new wells, Crockett said.

ADEQ officials will enforce the new standard when the deadline is reached. Water companies that do not meet the standard may be fined, director Steve Owens said.

Drinking water violations have maximum penalties of up to $25,000 per day, but ADEQ is not using this to motivate utilities to begin removing arsenic, he said.

“Our interest is not in penalizing drinking water systems or imposing fines on them,” he said. “Our interest is in helping these systems comply with the standards so that they can provide safe drinking water to the citizens of this state.”

Owens is also president of the state Water Infrastructure Finance Authority, which helps fund water utilities that need dramatic structural changes. Since the EPA announced the new arsenic standard in 2006, only one Tucson-area company has requested funding.

The Avra Water Co-op, which serves the Picture Rocks community, 10 miles northwest of Tucson, secured a $1.9 million loan from the authority to dig at least two more wells. The company is also creating a new system of water mains for its 7,500 customers that will cost more than $8 million.

Co-op president Bob Decker said other, smaller water companies that are not addressing the arsenic issue may be setting themselves up for a fall.

“The clock is ticking,” he said. “The problem is, if they don’t start their process early, they’re not going to have the time or money to finish.”

To minimize costs, some water systems are planning to wait for new, less-expensive technology that may be on the horizon. Owens said that may be a waste of time and money.

“They run a real risk of waiting and hoping that some magic technology is going to come online that is going to save them a lot of money and solve this problem entirely,” he said.

Arsenic is found primarily in volcanic rock. It bleeds into the water table when the rocks erode.

According to the EPA, prolonged consumption of arsenic in drinking water can cause a number of afflictions, including lung, bladder and kidney cancers.

Removing this element from drinking water makes sense, some residents said.

“It’s about time,” said Tucson resident Jennifer Miller, 28, who uses Tucson Water. “As a parent, I really don’t care how much it will cost.”

Metro Water District, which serves 16,000 households in an area bounded by West Lambert Lane and West River Road, and North Oracle Road and North Thornydale Road, is facing a similar arsenic situation.

Two of Metro’s wells are above the 2006 arsenic standard. Deputy manager Chris Hill said he expects the company to spend between $500,000 and $1 million to reduce the level of arsenic.

He said Metro will meet the 2006 deadline, but Hill is worried about what this will do to the national landscape of water utilities and the people they serve.

“The EPA put a vast amount of time into rationalizing the (change in standard),” he said. “This is going to be the most costly treatment expenditure ever for water utilities across the nation.”

Crockett said continuing to drop the threshold will not only cost money, but would also scare the public.

“I don’t think they have the science to back up the change,” he said. “But when you’re dealing with public concern, it is very easy to go that direction.”

EPA spokeswoman Catherine Milbourn defended the scientific methods used by the agency, saying the decision was based on research conducted by the National Academy of Science and members of the EPA Science Advisory Board. Results of these studies showed there is a heightened risk of bladder and lung cancer when drinking water arsenic levels are kept at the current standards, she said.

The National Drinking Water Advisory Council also investigated the financial feasibility of a change in the national arsenic standard, Milbourn said.

“When (EPA officials) looked at that data, they were reassured that the significant reductions were necessary,” she said. “Based on the best available science, the cost of this rule is achievable.”

Officials from Tucson Water said they are well aware of the lowered arsenic threshold and are taking steps to comply. Of the approximately 200 wells under Tucson Water’s direction, seven to 10 will need work, said Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky.

“We know which wells need to be addressed and are confident that we will be in compliance by the March 2006 deadline,” he said. “There is no way that we would not be in compliance beyond that date.”

FOR INFORMATION

There are 46 water providers in Tucson.

For more information on new arsenic and other water regulations, call the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality at (800) 234-5677 or your water provider.

PHOTO CAPTION: XAVIER GALLEGOS/Tucson Citizen

Larry Cox, a chemist for Tucson Water’s Water Quality Management Division, takes a sample at a well near Ryan Air Field. The water will be tested for metals and arsenic.

Citizen Staff

By INGRID LINDSTROM

ilindstr@tucsoncitizen.com

New standards for the nation’s drinking water will mean new technological developments. Where will they come from, and who’s behind the science?

The Environmental Protection Agency’s recent mandate to lower the acceptable level of arsenic in drinking water is changing the way water providers think about water technology.

Modern water technology research and development tries to improve on successes – namely, the carbon-block filter. Its purpose is determined by its “point of use,” or specific location in a home or business.

Kenton Jones is the marketing manager for Las Vegas-based Multi-Pure, a domestic and commercial water solutions company that distributes nationwide.

Multi-Pure is tackling a problem: Carbon-block filters don’t remove arsenic.

Its engineers are combining chemicals to mix with the powdered carbon in the filter without having to completely re-design their models.

Scientists and engineers are testing their models by adding iron oxide, which has been shown to eliminate most arsenic in drinking water.

Tucson Water is pursuing research about methods of water treatment and arsenic removal that is not “just about the cost, but efficient and long-lasting”, said Mitch Basefsky, a utility spokesman.

Basefsky said “the technology you choose has to have that safety factor. If something goes wrong, you don’t want to release any untreated water.”

To many water providers, safety comes in the form of new plastics for the membranes of reverse-osmosis filters. Basefsky said that in the past 10 years, plastics have made water-treatment technology cheaper and more efficient, in addition to reducing the amount of extra water needed to flush away contaminants. Extra water is often needed just to keep the cycle of water sanitation in perpetual motion.

The acceptable level for arsenic in drinking water around the nation is 50 parts per billion. Basefsky likened that figure to “a few drops in a standard-sized swimming pool.” In 2006, the level must be 10 parts per billion or less.

Tucson Water is trying to determine how water filter technologies will fare from well to well. The utility’s hydrologists, chemists, microbiologists and computer scientists are working to decide which technologies are best for reducing the arsenic level. But in the end, it may boil down to northwest Tucson’s geography.

According to Basefsky, Avra Valley has a higher arsenic level because of longtime erosion from volcanic rock in the Tucson Mountains, not as a result of human activity.

“Arsenic is a naturally occurring mineral in the Earth’s outer crust. It can dissolve into groundwater, especially where there is volcanic, porous rock,” he said.

FIGURING OUT YOUR FILTERS

• Reverse osmosis: A method that suspends or removes trace minerals and dissolved matter from water. Contaminants are forced through a membrane with pores that allow water molecules, but not larger compounds, to pass through. Additional water flushes away contaminants held by the membrane.

• Carbon: A filter containing high-density compact carbon allows water to flow through as contaminants stick to the carbon particles.

• Mechanical: Sand, dirt and other suspended particles are trapped through straining.

Sources: EPA, BestFilters.com, National Agricultural Safety Database, Tucson Water

Citizen Staff

Unacceptable

pipeline leak

prevarications

In the six months since a pipeline break spewed gasoline on the West Side, plodding actions and contradictory statements by the pipeline owner have done little to assuage the justified concerns of residents.

It now appears the gasoline spill was almost twice as large as the company initially admitted. And gasoline contamination of the ground and groundwater table is far more extensive than believed.

When the 8-inch pressurized pipeline broke July 30, gasoline shot 50 feet in the air, drenching homes under construction. Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, owner and operator of the line, said 10,000 gallons of gasoline escaped.

Two weeks later, the estimate was 13,000 gallons. In December, it was 16,000 gallons. This week, Kinder Morgan said the leak was probably 19,000 gallons.

There are two possibilities. Either Kinder Morgan didn’t know how much gasoline leaked or intentionally downplayed the amount until confronted with damning evidence. Neither is acceptable.

It is disconcerting, to say the least, that a company operating a pipeline cannot tell if it is missing 10,000 gallons or 19,000 gallons of its highly flammable and hazardous product.

Also troubling is the glacial pace of Kinder Morgan’s cleanup. About 7,700 gallons of gasoline have been removed in six months, leaving at least 11,000 gallons in the ground. Stephen Owens, director of the state Department of Environmental Quality, has said he may take the company to court to force it to move faster. Or the state may issue a cleanup contract to another company at Kinder Morgan’s expense.

The state fined Kinder Morgan the maximum allowable: $25,000 – a pittance to a large energy company.

The volume of gasoline lost is not the only matter on which Kinder Morgan has prevaricated.

The company said there was no way the gasoline could migrate west of an adjacent wash. Monitoring wells installed at the state’s insistence shows it has.

The company said there was no way the gasoline could contaminate groundwater. But there is a 3-foot layer of gasoline floating on the groundwater. Fortunately, Tucson Water has no wells in the area.

The spill is now confined to a small area. But initially, so was groundwater contaminated by trichloroethylene, which was used near Tucson International Airport. The TCE spread with the flow of the groundwater, fouling and closing numerous city wells. Decades later, the city negotiated a $35 million settlement with more than 1,600 South Side residents.

The July gasoline leak may have been an unavoidable accident, as Kinder Morgan maintains. But the company’s actions since have engendered neither comfort nor confidence.

Fitting honor

A Tucson police officer who gave his life while protecting our community was to be memorialized today.

The Patrick K. Hardesty Midtown Multiservice Center will be dedicated today at East 22nd Street and South Alvernon Way. It honors Hardesty, who was slain in May as he questioned a suspect.

Hardesty was the first Tucson police officer in more than two decades to be killed in the line of duty.

It is fitting that Tucsonans who never knew him will forever be reminded of his service and his bravery.

Citizen Staff

State wants quicker work by pipeline operator to determine extent

By OSCAR ABEYTA

oabeyta@tucsoncitizen.com

Groundwater contamination from last summer’s gasoline pipeline rupture was detected west of the spill, prompting a terse letter from state environmental regulators demanding quicker work by the pipeline operator to determine the extent of the spill.

City and state officials were quick to point out that the discovery poses no threat to drinking water and no immediate health hazard to residents.

Despite the assurances, area resident Ramie Fisher said she’s frustrated by yesterday’s revelation.

“I’m kind of speechless right now,” said Fisher, who is president of the Silver Creek Homeowners Association. “It just seems like there’s always one more thing that keeps happening.”

The discovery of groundwater contamination in that area likely means residents will have to live with wells in their neighborhood pumping out gasoline for the next couple of years.

Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Energy Partners has dug 16 monitoring wells on the east side of the wash where the pipeline that ruptured runs. There are houses under construction on the east side. Houses on the west side of the wash are occupied.

Two wells were sunk last week along the west side of Silvercroft Wash, and samples from one detected gasoline 140 feet underground. A letter from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, sent yesterday to Kinder Morgan, chided the company for not moving quickly enough to assess the contamination.

“These wells were constructed only after ADEQ insisted that the area on the west side of the wash must be investigated to fully determine the impact of the release,” ADEQ water quality manager Mike Traubert wrote. “It has been almost six months since the July 30, 2003 (gasoline) release, and your failure to completely characterize the release is troubling.”

Kinder Morgan last week also revised to more than 19,000 gallons its estimate of how much gasoline was spilled. .

Spokesman Jay Thorne said Kinder Morgan has been following proper procedures in cleaning up the contamination.

“We are moving through what is a well-established process for characterizing and then remediating the spill,” he said.

Thorne said the company is in “almost daily” contact with ADEQ about the status of its cleanup operations there. He acknowledged the company’s estimate of how much fuel was spilled has risen, but said the new findings are simply part of defining how large the original spill was.

“The notion that somehow it’s getting bigger is not accurate, certainly not on anything we’ve seen today,” he said.

ADEQ director Steve Owens said what troubles him is the slow progress at the site.

“The history here has been one of Kinder Morgan being less than aggressive in characterizing and cleaning up this contamination,” he said.

Owens also noted that despite pumping more than 7,700 gallons of fuel out of the groundwater, the layer of gasoline on top of the groundwater is still 3 feet thick.

“Even though they’ve pumped nearly 8,000 gallons out, there doesn’t appear to be any appreciable impact on the amount of gasoline sitting on top of the groundwater there,” he said.

Owens said there is no health risk to residents in the Silver Creek community from the gasoline in the groundwater under their homes, but the department asked Kinder Morgan to examine the potential for human exposure to gasoline vapors nonetheless.

Mark Sandon, director of environmental health and safety for Kinder Morgan, said the gasoline is too far down to pose a threat.

“There’s no risk to human health,” he said. Even as gasoline is pumped out of the ground, neighbors in the area won’t be exposed to harmful vapors, he said.

Tucson Water Director David Modeer stressed the city’s drinking water is not threatened by the contamination, noting the nearest city well is more than two miles away.

Citizen Staff

By OSCAR ABEYTA

oabeyta@tucsoncitizen.com

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners faces millions of dollars in fines for its July 30 gasoline spill on Tucson’s West Side after state environmental regulators yesterday issued a second violation notice to the pipeline operator.

This Arizona Department of Environmental Quality notice could cost the company $25,000 per day for the groundwater contamination that resulted from the spill. It had issued its first violation notice in September, which could penalize the company up to $25,000 for the initial spill.

The Tucson Fire Department originally re- ported the spill to be between 9,000 and 10,000 gallons, but Kinder Morgan figures showed the spill was about 16,500 gallons. The company recovered about 7,600 gallons the day of the spill, which left nearly 9,000 gallons in the soil.

ADEQ Director Steve Owens said depending on when the gasoline hit the groundwater, the maximum fine could already be in the millions of dollars.

“Even if you gave it a couple of weeks or a month for the gasoline to reach the groundwater, that’s at least two to three months that the groundwater has been contaminated,” he said.

According to Kinder Morgan, the company had removed 4,300 gallons of fuel from the water table as of Wednesday.

Owens said he did not know how high the potential fines against Kinder Morgan could climb.

“Some of that is going to depend on how cooperative Kinder Morgan is, and some of that is dependent on how good their remediation plan that they submit to us is,” he said.

Owens sent both notices of violation to the state Attorney General’s Office, which has responsibility for enforcing the fines and negotiating settlements.

In a written statement yesterday, Kinder Morgan stressed the gasoline is not endangering the city’s drinking water supply.

Citizen Staff

Gasoline spill:

act on facts,

not fears

It’s understandable that West Side residents would be upset upon hearing that a recent gasoline spill in their area apparently was worse than originally thought.

They’re so upset, in fact, that they’ve renewed their push to have the gasoline pipeline relocated. That’s an emotional reaction that would cost a lot of money while only relocating the real problem.

No one paid much attention to the pipeline – even though it’s marked with “danger” signs – until it ruptured on July 30, spewing an estimated 10,000 gallons of gasoline into the air, onto the ground and onto homes under construction.

Recent discovery that the water table has been contaminated by gasoline indicates that either the spill exceeded the company’s 10,000-gallon estimate or there was a long-term, undetected pipeline leak.

That points to the crux of the problem: Regulatory oversight of pipelines carrying potentially dangerous materials is lax.

Moving the pipeline to a less populated area would ease the minds of neighboring residents. It also would remove the safety threat posed by a breach.

But another area would be endangered by a potential leak, either now or in the future as development approaches. And moving the pipeline would not eliminate the risk of groundwater contamination from improperly maintained pipelines.

Spill enough gasoline into the ground and it eventually will seep into the aquifer regardless of where it’s spilled.

The money it would cost to buy land for a new pipeline route could be better spent on expanded oversight and regulation of pipelines lines and the companies that operate them – a responsibility of the federal government.

If government inspectors can’t identify problems and ensure that repairs are made before a breach occurs, why bother having them around? It is essential for the federal government to ensure that companies operate in ways that pose no safety or environmental threats.

Tucson City Councilman José Ibarra, who represents the West Side, wants to shut down city water wells along the gasoline pipeline route.

City water officials say there is no need to do that unless water samples that are being taken now show evidence of well contamination.

That hasn’t happened and the closest well is two miles away from the site of the pipeline break.

The city and federal regulators must maintain their efforts to make sure the existing pipeline is safe, even if it means total replacement. Relocating it would only delay those efforts.

Cut the spam

It’s rare that the U.S. Senate casts a unanimous vote. That’s what happened this week when it passed a bill to ban computer-generated junk e-mail, commonly know as spam.

The 97-0 vote demonstrates how universally despised spam can be. It’s worse than junk mail, which can be tossed without opening. It’s worse than intrusive telephone marketers’ calls, which can be disconnected with the click of a receiver.

Spam is more insidious because it takes time, money and work to purge it. It opens a door to destructive hackers and reproduces at the speed of light.

Banning spam will be exceedingly difficult because much of it comes from other countries. But if the gusher can be slowed even a little, the bill will be worthwhile.

The Associated Press

The Associated Press

PHOENIX – Mining giant Phelps Dodge Corp. agreed to pay $220,000 to settle an Environmental Protection Agency case over discharges of contaminated water.

The settlement deals with claims of discharges from the inactive United Verde Mine in Jerome.

In addition to the civil penalties, Phelps Dodge agreed to control future discharges by building $11 million in structures at the inactive mine, the EPA said.

“Inactive mines can still pose an environmental risk. It’s important for us to protect the beautiful Verde River and its tributaries,” said Alexis Strauss, the EPA’s Water Division director for the Pacific Southwest region.

The United Verde Mine closed in 1953. The old copper mine is near the Verde River, adjacent to Jerome north of Phoenix.

The Arizona Republic

By MAGGIE GALEHOUSE

The Arizona Republic

Residents of Picacho know better than to drink the water straight from their taps.

Word-of-mouth warnings have kept residents safe from water that’s high in nitrates and coliform bacteria.

“I buy gallons and jugs and individual packs of drinking water,” said Becky Jones, who seven years ago moved to the rural town just north of Tucson.

At Eddie’s Towing, the mechanics don’t even use town water to flush car radiators.

Self-monitoring can’t last forever, though, in a state that drew 1.5 million new residents in the past decade.

Members of the all-volunteer Picacho Peak Water Co. find themselves in a situation shared by dozens of small Arizona companies: They simply don’t have the money to clean up the water to meet state standards, and there is no one to turn to for help.

“With these small, private water companies, the ability to raise capital is so limited, and when we talk about nitrates, we’re talking about incredible cost,” said Roger Manning, who heads the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association.

Nitrates are chemical compounds often linked to agricultural fertilizers and are dangerous to pregnant women and small children. Coliform bacteria in water suggest other forms of bacteria may be present that cause disease and intestinal disorders.

Manning said the continuing problem will worsen in 2006 when water companies must meet new federal guidelines for arsenic levels.

“We’ll see bankruptcy,” Manning said.

If there are larger water providers nearby, he added, small companies will be looking to them for help.

Widespread problem

Arizona has 52 water systems that violate the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Picacho Peak Water Co. is 16th on that list of serious offenders, according to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

Picacho Peak Water Co. serves 20 to 25 residents but soon may be taxed by five times that number.

The local RV park, which has beefed up services to accommodate more year-round customers, presents the biggest concern for the water company.

Stop-and-go campers are exposed only briefly to the nitrates, said D.C. Cogburn, member of the water company and owner of an ostrich ranch in town. Cogburn dreads any population increase that may mean running more water to the park and increasing nitrate levels.

Mike Wirth runs the recreation vehicle park and used to sit on the water board. He said the park’s year-round population will not boom at the rate water company officials fear.

Still, the company in March filed a complaint saying it did not want to provide water to the RV park until the issues of bad water are resolved.

The complaint went to the Arizona Corporation Commission, which regulates private water companies across the state.

Representatives from the water company, corporation commission and RV park got together in June to mediate the complaint.

Last month, members said there’s nothing the commission can do. It has no authority over the RV park because it’s a private company, not a public utility.

Officials at Picacho Peak State Park, who see 68,000 visitors each year, didn’t wait for bureaucrats to decide what to do about the water. They removed the park from the Picacho Peak Water Co. system and dug their own well. The park has been using its own supply for three weeks, and state laboratory tests show the water is safe to drink.

“We wanted to become independent of them because of the problems they’ve had,” said Mike Gwinn, construction specialist for Arizona State Parks.

Flying under radar

For decades, Picacho Peak Water Co. managed to fly under the radar of state agencies because it was considered a transient water company, thanks to the area’s tiny year-round population.

As the RV park began to expand, the company got more attention from state agencies. Water company members solicited help from the state, as well, because they did not want to endanger themselves or their neighbors.

In January, Arizona’s environmental agency notified the water company it was violating standards for total number of nitrates and coliform bacteria.

June 26, the agency posted notices around Picacho indicating that the water is not safe to drink and that the company “was unwilling or unable” to show it had stepped up monitoring and public notification.

Cogburn and George Bien-Willner, company president, are frustrated.

“We turned ourselves in, and they sicced the dogs on us,” said Cogburn, who also is concerned about lawsuits.

If the state forces the company to “knowingly supply unsafe water to the public, they, not us, should be held responsible,” Cogburn said.

Bien-Willner said, “We need help. We can’t possibly raise water rates enough to clean up the wells, but if we let more and more people in to use the water, we’re asking for trouble.”

They’ve even asked the state agencies to shut them down.

“They have accepted the responsibility of serving water in that area,” said Heather Murphy, Corporation Commission spokeswoman, “and if they don’t, the state would have to take action to ensure reliable water service.”

Murphy wouldn’t say what that action may be but did say that there are “fines and other problems they could face if they abandon the system.”

Rate increases and loans are the only options available to small companies to pay for cleanup. More than 40 percent of the companies violating drinking-water rules serve 100 people or fewer.

At best, the state agencies can help water companies take stock of their financial condition and future needs.

“The process of setting standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act really doesn’t accommodate the problems of small, private utilities,” Manning said.

No state agency can help them raise money, he added.

Picacho Peak Water Co. hasn’t raised water rates since 1982. With such a limited number of users, raising rates enough to cover the estimated $2 million it may cost to clean the wells is unrealistic. Similarly, spreading a $2 million loan among 20 people doesn’t work, either.

“We’re in a Catch-22,” Bien-Willner said.

WATER BY THE NUMBERS

-1,660 water systems in Arizona.

- 675 water systems serve 100 people or fewer.

- 52 water systems are in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act.

- 22 of the 52 water systems in violation serve 100 people or fewer.

HELP FOR CONSUMERS

Arizona Corporation Commission helps consumers with complaints about water, including rates or charges; installation or disconnection; responsibility for a bill; request for a deposit; refusal of service; quality and type of service; and a water company’s policies and procedures.

HOW TO COMPLAIN

Contact the water company directly with complaint.

Contact the corporation commission if the issue is not resolved.

Arbitrate the issue or complaint before the Corporation Commission or a representative, who will write a nonbinding decision offering a resolution for the problem.

If that doesn’t work, file a formal complaint with the commission. You and a water company representative will testify before an administrator.

How to contact the Corporation Commission: 628-6550, within metro Tucson; (602) 542-4251, within metro Phoenix; (800) 222-7000 or (800) 535-0148 outside Phoenix or Tucson but within Arizona.

Sources: Arizona Corporation Commission and Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

PHOTO CAPTION: NICK de la TORRE/The Arizona Republic

D.C. Cogburn (left), a Picacho Peak Water Co. voluntary board member, and George Bien-Willner, company president, talk about the problems.

BAD WATER: Authorities in Picacho can afford to do little to boost water quality. Page 2C (This photo ran on 1C)

Citizen Staff

Tucson Water seeks an extension from the state to keep operating during cleanup of mercury that leaked into the water system.

By SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

CORRECTION (6/25/03)

A story on Page 1C yesterday about the mercury contamination in a Tucson Water well did not fully describe how Tucson Water can discharge the contaminated water. State guidelines allow the utility to release the water into nearby tributaries, but must prevent it from reaching the Tanque Verde Wash.

Tucson Water officials managing a mercury spill decided yesterday to ask state officials to extend their temporary emergency operating waiver or grant a new one.

The waiver gives water officials permission to manage the cleanup of the East Side spill.

The waiver, approved June 8, expired yesterday. It set conditions for monitoring and cleaning up mercury spilled from a city well pump seal on East Speedway Boulevard near North Harrison Road.

Mercury is a toxin whose presence in drinking water is regulated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and monitored by state environmental quality officials.

Arizona Department of Environmental Quality officials did not return a reporter’s calls yesterday afternoon.

The waiver allowed the utility to discharge mercury-contaminated water from a well site into the system as long as certain conditions were fulfilled. (SEE CORRECTION ABOVE)

Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky said the waiver did not affect the utility’s entire operation, just activity related to the spill.

A document dated June 13 from the state department indicates city water officials notified the state agency June 7 that a mercury pump seal in a drinking water well had failed.

“As a result, mercury leaked into the potable water distribution system,” the state agency said in its “Findings of Fact” in the document, which outlined terms of the waiver.

“Because emergency action was necessary to protect citizens from potential mercury exposures, an oral authorization to proceed was given by ADEQ on June 8,” the statement read.

In some forms, mercury can be toxic to humans. Methyl-mercury, the most toxic form of mercury, can cause paralysis and even death, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents in the two neighborhoods affected by the spill, both near Speedway and Harrison, were notified of the spill door-to-door and advised not to drink tap water until the water tested under the federal maximum of 2 parts per billion of mercury.

“Mercury levels were found to range from a low of non-detect to a high value of 54 ppb,” according to the state document.

Tucson Water and Pima County Health Department officials, however, said no water in an affected home tested as high as 50 ppb. Figures provided by the city indicate some homes initially tested as high as 39 ppb.

Pima County’s chief medical officer, Dr. Elizabeth MacNeill, said the amount of mercury, the type (elemental) and the short exposure made it unlikely anyone would be harmed.

The water main in the Calle Cascada neighborhood, where nine homes are affected, has been replaced with a new plastic main and homes have been hooked up to that main and to a water supply that was never contaminated, Basefsky said yesterday.

The need to flush water from the North Harrison and East Wrightstown roads area continues, Basefsky said, and that is why a permit extension is being sought.

Basefsky said Tucson Water will continue to sample the water in homes in the Calle Cascada neighborhood as water from the new main is used.

He said the homes continue to show the presence of mercury and water from them was sampled yesterday. Those results were not immediately available.

A water main in the Rosewood Estates II (Calle Bolivar) area will not be replaced. Two homes of 36 in that area had detectable levels of mercury.

Residents are to continue to use bottled water supplied by the city for drinking and cooking until water heaters are replaced.

Citizen Staff

Health officials don’t consider it an immediate health risk. Tucson Water tests the tainted East Side areas.

By SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

Tucson Water has been operating with an emergency permit from the state since a mercury spill contaminated water pumped by an East Side city well.

The spill is not considered an immediate health risk by local health officials.

The special permit requires regular testing of water samples for mercury levels until the water in the affected areas tests at or below the federal standard of 2 parts per billion.

The spill occurred May 28 when a well pump buried along East Speedway failed and a mercury-containing seal – installed in 1988 – broke, city water officials said.

About 12 pounds of mercury were released from the seal. Officials say nearly all of it has been recovered.

Installation of a new plastic water main in the Calle Cascada neighborhood was completed yesterday.

Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky said yesterday that additional water quality tests will be done on the Calle Cascada homes after the homes are hooked up to the new main.

He said hookups were to start today.

Some water tested in the two affected neighborhoods last week was still slightly above the federal standard of 2 ppb.

Exposure to enough mercury in its toxic form, methylmercury, can cause nerve damage in humans and animals. Over time, mercury in the water supply can change into methylmercury, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The new plastic water main was built in the Calle Cascada neighborhood, where mercury levels were the highest of those tested.

The main that was replaced was primarily concrete, and water officials said it’s possible small amounts of mercury could be trapped on the rough inside surface of the pipe.

Ten water heaters in nine Calle Cascada homes will be replaced. Ten requests also have come in from the Rosewood Estates neighborhood, Basefsky said.

Residents are being asked to continue to use bottled water provided by the city for drinking and cooking, though they have been cleared to bathe in their city tap water.

Tucson Water’s Customer Assistance Program has set up free medical testing for mercury for residents in the affected areas at the city’s workers’ compensation medical provider, Tucson Occupational Medicine, at 1661 W. Grant and 888 S. Craycroft roads.

It also has arranged with Pima Pet Clinic, 4832 E. Speedway Blvd., to take blood and urine samples from pets. Those samples will be tested at the University of California at Davis.

Swimming pool draining and refilling, replacement of pool filters and even refrigerator ice-maker filters will be paid for by the city. Residents have been told they can choose their own pool maintenance contractor.

And to improve access to claim forms, which were delivered door to door by city workers last week, the Ward 2 City Council office at 7575 E. Speedway Blvd. is handing out mercury claim form packages at the front desk during business hours Monday through Friday.

April Gonzalez, who lives with her 10-month-old son, Corbin, and her husband, Robert, at 9481 E. Calle Cascada, said she was told their water tested at 50 ppb after the spill and then fell to about 10 ppb. MacNeill said no home tested higher than 22 ppb.

Figures provided by Tucson Water indicate the mercury level at the Gonzalez home was 37 ppb initially, on June 7, and fell to 0.74 ppb by June 13.

Mercury levels in other homes on Calle Cascada were as high as 39 ppb June 7. By June 13, just two homes tested above the federal limit.

TUCSON WATER MEASURES

Monday

- Began 4-inch water main replacement on Calle Cascada.

- Continued flushing through two drain valves in Rosewood Estates II (Calle Bolivar neighborhood) and at one meter location (Calle Cascada).

- Provided copy of water quality data to Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.

- Made door-to-door contact in neighborhoods as necessary.

Tuesday

- Continued water main replacement on Calle Cascada.

- Completed removal of above-ground equipment from well site C-118 after clearance by Southwest Hazard Control and move to city water Plant 2.

- Sampled locations as indicated by weekend sampling.

- Door-to-door contact in neighborhoods as necessary.

Wednesday through today

- Completed main replacement.

- Continued flushing through two drain valves and at one water meter location.

- Door-to-door contact in neighborhoods as necessary.

After today

- Once main is replaced on Calle Cascada, sample cold water tap.

- If sample shows levels below the mercury contamination level, replace the home’s water heater. Otherwise, replace the service line and water heater.

- Replace shower heads in homes and have audits performed in the homes.

- Refill swimming pools.

- Make door-to-door contact in neighborhoods as necessary.

PHOTO CAPTIONS: NORMA JEAN GARGASZ/Tucson Citizen

Water flows from a spigot in the 9400 block of East Calle Cascada to flush new and old water mains. Crews replaced the water mains after a well pump failed, and a mercury-containing seal broke, contaminating the water.

Citizen Staff

Environmental rules lack teeth

With no means of enforcement, regulations often ignored

By LUKE TURF

lturf@tucsoncitizen.com

TIJUANA, Baja California -

Whenever the wind blows here, microscopic particles of lead, the residue from a long-closed American battery recycling plant, seep through the cracks and crevices of Andrea Pedro’s home and into her young children’s bloodstreams.

About 450 miles to the east, raw sewage from Mexico periodically flows through a canal bisecting the border towns of Nogales, Ariz., and Nogales, Son., and into the groundwater and the Santa Cruz River bed.

In between, in Imperial County, Calif., children are twice as likely to be hospitalized with asthma than are children elsewhere in the state, a condition local officials blame on dust kicked up from increased traffic on dirt roads south of the border.

Ten years after the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement, its “side” agreement – designed to clean environmental hazards along the U.S.-Mexican border – has fostered some success stories. But many of the most contaminated sites haven’t gotten past the documentation stage.

The problem is a lack of enforcement, agree NAFTA critics and supporters.

Although the side agreement created a commission to document problems, NAFTA negotiators avoided forming an organization to enforce cleanups.

“That’s one of the things that was resisted,” said U.S. Rep. Jim Kolbe, R-Ariz., one of NAFTA’s biggest boosters.

The side agreement has no enforcement arm because no one wanted to deal with the issue of which country’s environmental regulations took precedence, Kolbe said.

Toxic lead in Tijuana

The level of lead in Pedro’s 4-year-old daughter is 17 micrograms per deciliter. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, levels above 10 micrograms per deciliter can cause learning disabilities and behavioral problems. At high levels, lead poisoning can result in seizures, comas and even death.

The Pedro family and about 10,000 other people live in Colonia Chilpancingo, a working-class community on the outskirts of Tijuana. The community also was once the home of Metales y Derivados (Metals and Derivatives) a U.S. battery recycler that left behind an estimated 6,000 metric tons of lead slag, broken battery cases, sulfuric acid and heavy metals when the Mexican government shut it down for environmental violations in 1994.

The abandoned plant site, about the size of a city block, is a stone’s throw from Pedro’s home.

Lead dust from rusting, cracked barrels spills onto the ground. A child playing in the area could easily slip through one of the numerous holes in the fence surrounding the plant and perhaps fall into the pool where the company dumped battery acid.

“The lead is sweet,” Pedro said of the particles on her taste buds as she led a reporter on a tour of the site. Her footsteps created poisonous puffs of powder.

“Imagine the fear I have living here,” she said. “My kids can’t get the lead out of their blood.”

The Commission for Environmental Cooperation, established by the NAFTA side agreement to facilitate cooperation among the United States, Mexico and Canada on environmental issues, last year concluded a four-year study of the Metales y Derivados site.

But the study won’t lead to funding for cleanup, said Amelia Simpson, director of the San Diego-based Border Environmental Justice Campaign, which promotes safer and healthier working conditions in Mexico’s maquiladora industry.

“There’s no enforcement mechanism,” said Simpson, who calls Metales y Derivados the “poster child” for NAFTA’s shortcomings. “Documentation is the extent of their mandate.”

The NAFTA side agreement also created the Border Environmental Cooperation Commission, which certifies environmental cleanup projects for funding by the North American Development Bank, also formed by the side agreement.

The government of Baja California has submitted a petition to the BECC to clean up the site. But even if the commission certifies the site, there are no funds available for cleanup, bank officials said.

The bank, commonly known as NAD Bank, was established to fund wastewater plants and water delivery systems. Its mission since has been expanded to include air quality, water conservation and renewable energy projects, bank spokesman Juan Antonio Flores said.

But the bank is underfunded. The three countries that signed NAFTA were supposed to kick in a total of $3 billion of capital, and the bank has received only $450 million, Flores said.

Neither NAFTA officials nor the residents of Colonia Chilpancingo are expecting the owner of the recycling plant to help. Jose Kahn fled Mexico after authorities issued an arrest warrant charging him with environmental violations.

Kahn did submit a proposal to the BECC for cleaning the site, but officials determined it was not a serious plan, said Felix Arenas, a spokesman for the commission.

Kahn declined to comment when reached by telephone at his San Diego home and referred a reporter to his lawyer, who did not return phone calls.

Toxic wastewater in Nogales

The wastewater treatment plant in Nogales, Ariz., is supposed to treat all sewage generated in Nogales and its sister city, Nogales, Son. It is the only binational treatment plant along the entire U.S.-Mexican border.

But skyrocketing growth in Nogales, Son., which officials tie in large part to the growth of the maquiladora industry since NAFTA was enacted, has strained the plant. U.S. officials say Mexico is exceeding its limit by 3 million to 5 million gallons of wastewater a day.

Because Nogales, Ariz., is downhill from Nogales, Son., the excess wastewater ends up pouring into the United States, said Joe Yanez, a technician and safety officer at the plant.

Yanez said the untreated water, which sometimes includes toxic chemicals, passes through a wash that runs through the middle of Nogales, Ariz., and eventually ends up in the Santa Cruz River.

“You never know what’s in the Nogales Wash, it can change from minute to minute,” he said.

Yanez said that during the rainy season, the 20-foot-deep wash fills to the brim, and the excess wastewater sometimes leaks over the wash’s banks and into the main shopping district.

The situation is “one of those deals NAFTA forgot,” said John Snyder, utilities director for Nogales, Ariz.

The wastewater treatment plant is run by the International Boundary and Water Commission, based in El Paso, Texas. Stephen Tencza, the commission’s Nogales project manager, said the wash has become a public health threat because residents could come into contact with any number of toxic materials and cattle could drink contaminated water.

The NAD Bank has earmarked $60 million to expand capacity at the treatment plant, but construction plans are stalled because bank and city officials can’t agree on exactly what needs to be done, Snyder said.

However, the Environmental Protection Agency recently authorized the city and the IBWC to proceed with a plan in which the city would develop a new treatment plant run by the IBWC solely to treat wastewater from Mexico.

Nogales, Ariz., resident Teresa Leal recently filed suit against all agencies involved because nothing was being done to address the wastewater problem. She blames the lack of enforcement power among the agencies created by the NAFTA side agreement for allowing the Santa Cruz to continue to be polluted long after the problem was identified and money allocated to fix it.

“With NAFTA, they are just little Band-Aids,” she said of the agencies.

Bad air in Imperial County

Imperial County, sandwiched between the Arizona border and San Diego County, is constantly in violation of federal air quality standards.

Brad Poiriez, senior manager for air quality, said the county could be in compliance if it wasn’t for all the dust blown into the county from traffic on unpaved roads in Mexico. Poiriez believes the dust, which he said is a direct result of “uncontrolled industry” spawned by NAFTA, is the leading cause of the county’s high rate of respiratory problems.

About 8,000 cases of asthma have been documented among the county’s 141,000 residents, said Yolanda Bernal of Imperial County’s Public Health Department. Children are hospitalized for asthma at a rate of 566 children per 100,000, she said, while the rate for the rest of the state is 216 per 100,000.

Arenas, the BECC spokesman, said his agency recently certified a project to pave more roads in Mexico near the border with Imperial County and in other parts of Baja California.

The five-year project, which will cost $463 million, will include $25 million in loans from the NAD Bank, said Scott Storment, the bank’s development officer. The rest will come from Mexican state and federal funds, he said.

Although much remains to be done to clean the border environment, Flores said, the agency has accomplished a great deal in a short time. He said the agency certified $485 million in financing for 55 projects along the border in both countries.

But some NAFTA critics, such as Daniel Patterson, a desert ecologist with the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, contend that cleaning up the border will be a never-ending game of catch-up.

“They may have done a few feel-good things, but when you compare it to the massive industrialization and pollution in the border region sparked by NAFTA, there’s no way to keep up,” he said.

CLEANING UP THE BORDER

The Border Environmental Cooperation Commission has certified 63 border environmental projects for funding by the North American Development Bank since 1995.

- The bank has approved funding for 57 of the projects.

- 23 of the 57 have received some funding.

- 9 have received all the funds needed.

- 15 projects have been completed.

PROJECTS RECENTLY FUNDED BY NAD BANK

- $1.25 million loan and a $500,000 grant will pay for construction of a sanitary landfill and improvements in municipal sanitation services in San Luis Rio Colorado, Son. The project is expected to relieve soil, air and groundwater contamination through closure of an open-air dump.

- A $1.3 million grant will help pay for improvements to the wastewater treatment plant and wastewater collection system in Patagonia. The project is expected to reduce wastewater discharge from leaks in the system.

- A $1.5 million grant will help build a wastewater collection system in Gadsden, an unincorporated town south of Yuma.

- A $4 million loan will help pay for a road-paving project in Agua Prieta, Son. Paving is expected to improve air quality in Douglas because the prevailing south-to-north wind carries dust from unpaved roads north of the border.

PHOTO CAPTIONS: DAVID MAUNG/For the Tucson Citizen

Andrea Pedro, 25, a mother who lives near an abandoned battery recycling plant on the outskirts of Tijuana, says the toxic particles in the air burn her throat.

Pedro draws with her 4-year-old daughter, Maria Guadalupe Gomez, and her 6-year-old son, Hugo Ivan Gomez. Maria has dangerous levels of lead in her blood.

TRICIA McINROY/Tucson Citizen

Jose Manuel Zuniga; his wife, Guadalupe; their daughter, Gisel, 2; and their son, Angel, 6, live near a contaminated drainage canal in Nogales, Mexico. The black tank (background) is where they store their water, which they get from tanker cars.

The Associated Press

Sempra Energy of San Diego says it found an ideal site in Mexico. Environmentalists sneer.

The Associated Press

MEXICALI, Mexico – A hulking 37-acre display of tubes and silos is sending electricity to thousands of homes in the western United States, but this power plant isn’t on U.S. soil – it’s in northern Mexico’s desert landscape, just three miles from the border.

The plant’s owner, San Diego-based Sempra Energy, says it found an ideal site, with open land, water, fuel and transmission line capacity. But environmentalists contend that Sempra, and the owners of a second plant nearby, built them in Mexico to avoid U.S.-mandated pollution controls. And they argue the plants threaten to contaminate water and air across the region.

“You could pick up this plant lock, stock and-barrel, move it to California, and it would pass any environmental test,” responds Octavio Simoes, who oversees engineering and construction of new power plants for Sempra, a gas producer and utility.

Sempra’s $350 million plant is currently sending power to the United States in test runs; it plans to start commercial operations to 600,000 customers this summer. The second plant, a $750 million facility built by InterGen, a joint venture of Bechtel Group Inc. and Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Cos., will produce enough power to light up 1 million homes on both sides of the border.

Environmentalists opposing the plants have taken their concerns to court. Today, a U.S. district judge holds a hearing in a suit by the Border Power Plant Working Group, an environmental group, against the Energy Department and the Bureau of Land Management.

The suit charges that the plants violate the National Environmental Protection Act and other federal rules. Neither Sempra nor InterGen are named as defendants – the Energy Department approved transmission lines from the Mexicali plants to El Centro, Calif., while BLM granted rights of way.

Last month, U.S. District Judge Irma Gonzalez ordered the Energy Department to more closely examine potential environmental damage from the plants. The decision offers a rare example of a U.S. judge regulating a Mexican operation, if only indirectly.

“The one thing you don’t have right now is regulatory certainty,” said Stephen Raab, InterGen’s vice president for health, safety and environment. “You can’t go in, design something, get financing and then find out at the 11th hour that the rules have changed.”

Sempra, which always planned to export all of its power to the United States, began construction in early 2001, when California appeared to be suffering an acute power shortage.

The company said it was drawn to the area because of its infrastructure advantages, and by the fact that the Mexican government issues permits in about six months, compared to nearly two years to build in California.

Critics disagree. “I just don’t believe what they’re saying,” said Steve Birdsall of the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District, which polices air quality along the U.S. border, north of Mexicali.

In any case, Sempra says its pollution controls on carbon monoxide and nitrous oxide would pass muster in California or any other state.

InterGen, based in Burlington, Mass., acknowledges its 1,065-megawatt Mexicali plant lacks carbon monoxide pollution controls to meet California standards but insists its emissions are too small to justify massive spending on more equipment. Bill Malenius, who oversees construction of the plant, touts a small room of pollution monitors that show the export unit of the plant isn’t releasing any carbon monoxide at peak production.

In January, InterGen agreed to gradually install nitrous oxide controls by early 2006, at a cost of about $30 million. The concession came three weeks after Sen. Dianne Feinstein introduced a bill requiring plants within 50 miles of the border to meet regional U.S. standards or forfeit rights to buy natural gas from the U.S.

Plant supporters argue that critics would better serve their cause by paying more attention to other pollutants, many of which come from the U.S. side of the border.

Try telling that to government officials in Imperial County, a sparsely populated, agricultural region east of San Diego. Sewage water from Mexicali emits a foul stench as the New River courses north past the region’s largest border crossing and along a major street of Calexico, a California town of 30,000 people.

The New River originates 20 miles south of the border, picking up Mexicali’s sewage and pesticides drained from Imperial County farms before ending in the Salton Sea, a habitat for eared grebes, white pelicans, ruddy ducks and hundreds of other bird species. The murky river supplies about one-third of the Salton Sea.

The water must be first cleaned by the New River Wetlands Project, whose 24 acres of ponds cleanse agricultural drainage and New River sewage water.

Biologist Marie Barrett, who works for the wetlands project, is reluctant to plunge into the political fight, choosing her words carefully.

“The question is whether dirty water is better than no water,” she says. “Water is precious, and we prefer it even if it’s dirty. We think we can clean it up.”

Citizen Staff

There was an error in a caption under a photograph on Page 2A in yesterday’s Tucson Citizen. In the photo, the Tucson Water worker is removing the water meter in front of a home on Calle Cascada to ease the flushing of the water line. The city is flushing the line because of mercury contamination.

Citizen Staff

People ‘not at danger,’ chief medical officer says

Tucson Water said to be taking right steps

By LARRY COPENHAVER

and SHERYL KORNMAN

news@tucsoncitizen.com

Pima County’s chief medical officer says residents of 46 homes in two East Side neighborhoods exposed to a mercury spill in city water are “not at danger.”

Dr. Elizabeth MacNeill said last night that “this is a very small amount of mercury, and it’s the least toxic form of mercury.”

She doesn’t expect “any ill health effects from this exposure.”

“It’s hard to tell people not to be afraid when they are,” MacNeill said. “They do need to cooperate with instructions . . . even at this minimal risk.

“Tucson Water is taking more than adequate measures to protect the health of the folks that are affected.”

The metal spilled into the water supply from a broken seal on a well pump on Speedway Boulevard to two neighborhoods near East Speedway and North Harrison Road.

The mercury was built into the seal, installed in 1987.

Most of the mercury from the seal has been recovered, but some likely remains at the bottom of the well. “But we’re talking molecules of mercury,” the health official said.

Tucson Water officials said they told residents during the weekend the tap water in homes tested positive for mercury levels exceeding the federal limit for drinking water of 2 parts per billion.

The highest level of mercury contamination was found in a hydrant, MacNeill said. It was 22 ppb.

“But we get more mercury from mercury fillings (in compound metal fillings in teeth) and from food sources like canned tuna than we do from this water,” she said.

Residents have been told that if they want to have their blood tested for mercury levels, the city will reimburse them.

In high doses, mercury exposure can cause tremors, inability to walk, convulsions and death.

“It’s possible there may be some people with elevated levels of mercury, and that will be followed up on. Mercury in very small amounts for a very short period of time should not contribute anything to their (existing) health problems,” MacNeill said.

The submersible well pump that failed was once a top mechanism that offered quiet, reliable service, Tucson Water spokesman Mitch Basefsky said.

The seal was installed after neighbors heard noise from the pumping at the well, C-118.

It was the only mercury-containing seal in Tucson Water’s 200 wells, said Basefsky, and had about 12 pounds of it. That’s about 12 fluid ounces, about what’s in a soda can.

Basefsky said the pump, more than 300 feet below ground in a well casing, failed May 28 after the seal broke.

The pump was dug out and hoisted to the surface June 4.

An inspection showed signs of a leak, so tests were ordered. Water samples were taken June 5.

The next day, officials reported that mercury had entered the water.

Residents of homes in the 9400 block of East Calle Cascada and nearby on Calle Bolivar in Rosewood Estates were told Saturday.

Mercury levels along Calle Cascada were at 23 ppb, 10 times the federal standard of 2 ppb.

Farther down the water line, homes on Calle Bolivar showed levels up to 1.5 ppb, Basefsky said.

The farther from the well, the lower the contamination.

Testing beyond the neighborhood showed no mercury.

On Saturday, bottled water was delivered to homes, and some people on Calle Cascada were offered hotel lodging, Basefsky said.

Two people went to a hotel. Several residents said no lodging was arranged for them.

On Sunday, residents of Rosewood were offered hotel rooms, Basefsky said, but none took the offer.

City water was rerouted from other wells.

As of Sunday, Rosewood Estates tested clean at water mains.

There were light levels of mercury detected in water at the tap.

Tests for evaporated mercury in water heaters yielded slight traces of mercury at two homes. None showed up in coolers.

Residents said they were advised to have their children examined by their pediatricians, if they wished.

Why did officials wait so long to tell them? affected are asking

By SHERYL KORNMAN

skornman@tucsoncitizen.com

Carl Booth wants to know why it took city officials 10 days after a mercury-laden water pump seal broke to tell him and his neighbors their water was contaminated.

The water at his house, at 9472 E. Calle Cascada, was a milky color for about six weeks before he was told by the city of the mercury spill over the weekend, he said.

Booth called the city several times and was told there was air in the water line, he said.

He’s sending some of his tap water to a lab in Phoenix to be tested for mercury, he said.

Residents were told about the contamination Friday and Saturday. City water workers, along with Mayor Bob Walkup and Ward 2 City Councilwoman Carol West, knocked on doors and gave residents the news.

Booth, who didn’t want to give his age, has congestive heart failure and is set to have an angiogram and perhaps an angioplasty tomorrow.

That was planned before the mercury spill, but Booth is wondering how long his water supply exceeded federal levels for mercury before the city realized there was a problem.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets standards for mercury in the water supply at a maximum of 2 parts per billion. Some homes tested at more than 20 ppb.

Long-term exposure to enough mercury in its toxic form can result in kidney damage, tremors and convulsions. Mercury changes form in water over a period of time.

“I’m concerned about it,” said Booth, who has been reading on the Internet about mercury poisoning.

Orville Cave, who lives with Booth, also has congestive heart failure. He wonders how long he’s been exposed to the mercury.

“That probably could have broken down last year, and they (the city) won’t own up to it,” he said.

The contamination was detected after the well pump quit about two weeks ago.

He and Booth said they were told by the city the pump was used for a couple of months a few times a year. They wonder whether infrequent use or maintenance led to the breakdown.

The men said they were told they could stay free at the Tucson East Hilton during the weekend. Booth said he called the Hilton and the Hilton “didn’t know anything about it.” So he went without a shower for a few days.

The city gave them and the others a claim form for expenses related to the mercury spill.

Booth wants his three dogs tested for mercury exposure. His vet told him it will cost $240 for each dog, he said.

Booth wonders whether the city will replace his evaporative cooler, refrigerator filter and swimming pool filter.

April Gonzalez, 25, who lives at 9481 E. Calle Cascada, was upset yesterday. She said her home’s water supply tested the highest of any on her block, at 50 ppb.

Later it tested at 10 ppb, she said.

But Pima County’s chief medical officer, Dr. Elizabeth MacNeill, said yesterday no home tested as high as 50 ppb.

Still, Gonzalez worries, “How long has my exposure been?”

She and her husband, Robert, 28, are most concerned about long-term health effects on their 10-month-old son, Corbin.

The baby had been spending several hours a day in city tap water, splashing around in the kiddie pool in the yard and in the bathtub.

On Saturday, the family was told to stop using tap water.

“He loves water,” April Gonzalez said. “They told us not to drink it. That it was OK to bathe with it, just don’t get it in your mouth or nose.”

She and her son had blood samples drawn at a Tucson lab yesterday to test for mercury exposure. Results are due in three to five days.

“We’ll all feel better when we get our blood tests back,” she said.

The city has supplied the neighborhoods with dozens of cartons of bottled water.

April Gonzalez said city officials told residents Monday night they last ran the well in April. She wonders whether mercury started leaking in April or earlier.

“They can’t guarantee us how long ago the seal actually broke,” she said.

Jerry Chouinard, 55, lives down the block at 9441 E. Calle Cascada with his ailing mother, Ruby Rose, 85, who has kidney failure, and his brother, Al, 57, who’s ill after several strokes. He also cares for his son, Nathan, 28, who has cerebral palsy, and his grandson, who is 3.

Chouinard has Lyme disease and has been on disability for several years. He is most concerned about his grandson, who spends 12 hours a day at his home.

“He’s gonna be tested,” Chouinard said. “He’s our pride and joy.”

Chouinard said city officials told them they would set it up so everybody could be tested at the same place, without out-of-pocket costs. That hasn’t happened yet.

“They told us they’ll pay our gas and water bill this month,” he said.

Residents were told to keep their hot water running to clear the water lines. And they were told they will have their water heaters replaced free.

A June 7 letter hand-delivered to residents says “inorganic mercury at these levels is not considered an acute (immediate) health threat . . . ”

“According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, some people who drink water containing inorganic mercury well in excess of the drinking water standard over many years could experience kidney damage. If you have any medical concerns, please contact your medical care provider.”

Tucson Water, in a letter to residents dated June 7, apologized. “We want to always be sure that the water we deliver is completely safe for all users.”

PHOTO CREDIT: FRANCISCO MEDINA/Tucson Citizen

CUTLINE: April Gonzalez holds her 10-month-old son, Corbin, while a blood sample is taken to test for mercury poisoning.

CUTLINE: East Side resident Carl Booth wonders how long his water supply exceeded federal levels for mercury.

CUTLINE: Julian Pallanes of Tucson Water removes a meter in front of an East Side home to ease the flushing of the water line.