CANTON, MA, November 10, 2008 (Water Tech) — Construction site to be tested for contaminants

WASHINGTON, November 11, 2008 (Water Tech) — EPA extends comment period for perchlorate finding

ISSAQUAH, WA, November 12, 2008 (Water Tech) — WA city implements water-protection plan

DENVER, November 13, 2008 (Water Tech) — Perchlorate found in sodium hypochlorite supplies: study

BOSTON, November 20, 2008 (Water Tech) — MTBE settlements trickle in to Boston communities

Construction site to be tested for contaminants

CANTON, MA, November 10, 2008 (Water Tech) — Town residents here voiced concern at a November 3 town meeting that soil near the proposed construction site of a water treatment plant could be contaminated and could affect the safety of their drinking water, according to a November 10 article in the Canton Citizen.

Select Chairman John Connolly said the purpose of the new water treatment plant is to lower the town’s dependence on the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and to deliver safe water to residents. Connolly said in the article that soil test boring will be performed to ensure the safety of the drinking water.

EPA extends comment period for perchlorate finding

WASHINGTON, November 11, 2008 (Water Tech) — The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on November 10 that in response to requests, the agency is providing more time for public comment on its preliminary regulatory determination not to regulate perchlorate in drinking water at a national level.

The agency now is asking that comments be submitted by a new deadline of November 28.

On October 3, the EPA announced that after “extensive review of scientific data related to the health effects of exposure to perchlorate from drinking water and other sources,” a national primary drinking water rule for the chemical is not necessary. The EPA said a national primary drinking water regulation would not provide a meaningful opportunity to reduce the health risk from perchlorate, as WaterTech Online™ reported.

Perchlorate is a chemical that has been used at military installations and defense plants as a rocket fuel, and also in conventional fireworks.

As originally published in an October 10 Federal Register notice by the EPA, entitled “Drinking Water: Preliminary Regulatory Determination on Perchlorate,” the agency was to make a final regulatory determination for perchlorate after considering comments and information provided in the 30-day comment period following the notice.

Environmental advocacy groups, including the Environmental Working Group, said they would sue the EPA if its final perchlorate regulatory determination is that no national standard is needed, as WaterTech Online reported. Substances that are placed on the primary drinking water contaminant list are assigned a maximum contaminant limit (MCL) that is enforceable for public drinking water supplies.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Perchlorate.

WA city implements water-protection plan

ISSAQUAH, WA, November 12, 2008 (Water Tech) — A plan to protect this city’s underground drinking water source now is being implemented, a November 11 Issaquah Press article said.

The plan, created by the Issaquah Public Works Engineering Department, will use the Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) rules, adopted by the City Council in 2007, to help protect the city’s aquifer from hazardous contaminants.

The plan will target businesses as a preventive measure because they often work with materials with harmful potential, such as solvents, oil, pesticides and fertilizers.

A representative from the Public Works Engineering Department and an expert from environmental consulting firm Farallon Consulting are working to identify businesses that may be subject to CARA regulations. Kelly Ritland, Public Works senior water resources engineer, estimates that only about 100 businesses will end up on the final list. Most changes that businesses will have to make will be minimal, Ritland said in the article.

There is no evidence yet that the area where the aquifer sits currently is polluted, but the location of this aquifer makes it highly susceptible to pollution, according to the article.

Perchlorate found in sodium hypochlorite supplies: study

DENVER, November 13, 2008 (Water Tech) — Rocket-fuel ingredient perchlorate has been in more than 90 percent of sodium hypochlorite samples from production facilities across North America, reports an article in the November issue of Journal AWWA, the American Water Works Association’s (AWWA) peer-reviewed publication.

The article, entitled “Occurrence of Perchlorate in Sodium Hypochlorite” and authored by Peter Greiner and colleagues, is the result of an NSF International survey. In response to recent findings of perchlorate in sodium hypochlorite, NSF surveyed sodium hypochlorite products used to treat drinking water to better understand the occurrence of perchlorate as a contaminant.

The authors found a trend of increasing perchlorate concentration as the hypochlorite aged. They also discovered that the duration and conditions of storage can affect the levels of the contaminant in a utility’s hypochlorite supplies — and ultimately its drinking water.

According to an abstract of the article, “The investigation provided a basis for recommendations to minimize perchlorate formation and lower the potential for its unintended addition to drinking water. Sodium hypochlorite should be stored in the dark at cool temperatures, diluted if possible, and used within a few weeks of manufacture.”

Perchlorate, a chemical also used in the manufacture of fireworks, is considered a contaminant of health concern because exposure to high levels over extended periods may adversely affect thyroid activity. Some states are beginning to regulate perchlorate absent a federal standard.

Multi-Pure Commentary:
Multi-Pure’s MP750 Plus RO has been certified by NSF International, under Standard 58, to reduce Perchlorate.

MTBE settlements trickle in to Boston communities

BOSTON, November 20, 2008 (Water Tech) — Some Boston-area communities, benefiting from a negotiated settlement of a lawsuit that had accused oil companies of contaminating drinking water supplies with the gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), are planning to pump the money into water system upgrades or monitoring — or save it for future expenses, The Boston Globe reported on November 20.

The settlement, which was announced in May and passed a final hurdle in September, requires the oil companies to pay a total of $423 million to water suppliers and also pay 70 percent of cleanup costs over the next 30 years. The case is the result of the consolidation of many MTBE lawsuits into a single case. However, some oil companies, such as ExxonMobil, have chosen to proceed with the court case instead of settle. That case will be heard by the federal Multi-District Litigation Court in New York. A date for the next hearing has yet to be set, the Globe reported.

For Boston-area communities, the settlement amounts range from $200,000 to more than $1.8 million. Settlements were determined by the amount of MTBE found, the number of test rounds it remained present, and how long ago it was detected, Malden attorney Richard Sandman said in the Globe article. Sandman represented all of the Massachusetts communities in the lawsuit.

Low-levels of MTBE can render water undrinkable and high levels of MTBE are considered carcinogenic.