Contamination causing concern

LA CRESCENTA — As water officials continue to track an underground plume of toxic material in the foothills, community leaders are worrying about the cost and scope of its reach on a myriad of water improvement projects in the pipeline.

After years of tracking the plume of Methl Tertiary-butyl Ether, or MTBE, in the ground water, Crescenta Valley Water District officials still don't know the extent of the contamination. This has its board of directors concerned, since they must decide how to fund $48 million in proposed infrastructure improvements.

"Is this the beginning of it?" said board member Danette Erickson, who also serves on the Crescenta Valley Town Council.

Gas companies are working with the water district as they test various sites along Foothill Boulevard to decide where and how to extract the MTBE.

"We don't know how extensive it is because we don't have X-ray vision to look below the ground," said David Gould, an engineer for the water district.

Meanwhile, the shut-down of one well due to high levels of MTBE has forced the water district to import about 1.5 million gallons of water per day at an annual cost of about $1.1 million, Gould said.

MTBE is a gasoline additive introduced in 1990 to control vehicle emissions. It was banned by Gov. Gray Davis in 2003 amid fears it was contaminating water supplies as it leaked from aging gasoline storage tanks.

If remediation costs associated with extracting the plume run too high, the water officials may have to pass the cost along to the 32,000 people living within their water district, board member Vasken Yardemian said.

"We have to pass that buck to the customer and that's not fair," he said.

Water officials having been monitoring levels of MTBE since its discovery in the water system in 2004.

Overall, foothill drinking water is more than safe. The average level of MTBE across the district is less than one part per billion, Gould said. The threshold for a safe amount of MTBE in the water supply is 13 parts per billion, as set by the California Environmental Protection Agency.

MTBE levels above 13 parts per billion is considered too unsafe to drink, while a secondary threshold of 5 parts per billion is the level at which the taste and odor of the additive can be detected.

The water district has spent thousands of dollars for consultants to develop computer models on the possible size and direction of the plume.

"We know it's traveling easterly," he said.