Drinking Water

Claudia Peschiutta NORTHWEST GLENDALE -- Scientists and politicians came together Friday to assure the public they are working to find out what can happen when chromium 6 gets into drinking water. Using the huge metal tanks of the Glendale Water Treatment Plant as a backdrop, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Glendale) and other officials announced the National Toxicology Program will soon begin a series of studies on the chemical and its effects. There are "many questions, very few answers," said Schiff, who coauthored a request for the study.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- In a move almost certain to affect Glendale's efforts to deal with chromium 6 contamination, Gov. Gray Davis on Tuesday ordered the Department of Health Services to begin working on a public health standard for the chemical. The order will create a definitive standard for a substance whose health risk is frustratingly unclear. The state only has a health standard for total chromium, a situation that has left cities like Glendale trying to make policy decisions about drinking water with only a general idea of what risk they may be facing.

Alex Coolman GLENDALE -- Glendale is one of 58 cities cited in a report released Monday on perchlorate contamination of water systems, but officials say the level of the chemical found is not worrisome. The report, released by the Washington D.C.-based Environmental Working Group, details perchlorate levels in a wide range of California drinking water systems. Perchlorate is a chemical used to make rocket fuel. High levels of the chemical can cause thyroid problems.

Recently, a local mother wrote to this paper about Adam Schiff's actions regarding chromium 6 in our drinking water. This writer blindly followed what Schiff said, and didn't look deeper in to his legislative proposals. That is a disservice to this community. The cities of Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank all have agencies investigating this problem and monitoring our water quality. The federal and state government both have multiple agencies overseeing water quality testing.

I think the cities of Glendale and Burbank deserve a ton of praise for showing some spine regarding the source of our drinking water. With the levels of chromium 6 in the San Fernando Valley water supply a major concern, both cities have refused to accept its use until further studies, or until new technologies can reduce or remove the known carcinogen. Although the move could cost millions of dollars in replacing the water supply with outside sources, city officials are apparently not willing to roll the dice with the public's health.

Buck Wargo GLENDALE -- First, chromium 6. Now, arsenic. The concerns over chromium 6 in Glendale's water supply and that of the rest of the region could be overshadowed in the upcoming months by tougher proposed drinking water standards for arsenic -- a carcinogen considered more dangerous than chromium 6 whose health effects on drinking water are still being debated. With final rules to be announced by Jan. 1, the U.S. EPA has proposed setting a standard of 5 parts per billion of arsenic, down from the existing, 58-year-old standard of 50 parts per billion.

Tim Willert "Healthy and Fit for Life" was the theme of the city's annual employee health fair, which drew an estimated 800 people Thursday to Perkins and Parcher plazas behind City Hall. The event is designed to promote employee wellness, and is sponsored by the Employee Health Services Department, a section of the city's Personnel Division. About 45 vendors manned booths promoting the services of everything from local gyms and hospitals to health food stores and drinking water companies.

Crescenta Valley Water District has detected Methl Tertiary-butyl Ether (MTBE) in one of its wells at higher levels than the maximum containment level set by the California Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency. An informational meeting was held at CVWD on Tuesday, Nov. 14 that addressed the MTBE contaminate. According to David Gould, CVWD district engineer, CDH and EPA have determined that safe levels for MTBE is five parts per billion (ppb). Water well number seven was shut down in August when MTBE levels of 29 ppb were discovered.

Tim Willert CITY HALL -- A pair of Environmental Protection Agency experts and the court-appointed San Fernando Valley water master urged the City Council on Tuesday to stop dumping treated water into the Los Angeles River, water they assured the council is safe to drink because it falls below state and federal standards for chromium 6. The council decided to relax Glendale's standards for chromium in drinking water...

Claudia Peschiutta GLENDALE -- City officials want to make sure the state cleans up local freeways, doesn't force Glendale residents to bail out troubled utility companies and returns local property tax revenues to the area. These are some of the messages city officials had for state Sen. Jack Scott (D-Glendale) at a briefing held on Friday. With Glendale Mayor Dave Weaver at one end of the table and Scott at the other, officials ran down a list of items, including the safety of local drinking water, electric deregulation and reforming funding for local governments.