Hundreds wade in on Walton water issue

Walton-area residents got more arsenic information than some could swallow Monday at a Yuba City City Council study session.

The short answer may be that if a person lived in a house for 30 to 40 years, and drank water which contains 50 parts per billion of arsenic, they would have a 1 percent higher risk of getting cancer, said Bruce Macler, a toxicologist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

That was not acceptable for the federal government or for Congress, which passed the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act. Macler said the water standards have to be set at a level that has no known or anticipated effects because the water is there for everyone — not just elderly residents, but infants and kids as well.

"Your water has to be squeaky clean," said Macler.

Otherwise, people face a higher risk of cancers of the lung, bladder, kidney, nose, prostate, skin and liver.

Macler and others spoke about arsenic risks, water standards and a number of other topics during a City Council study session at Andros Karperos Middle School attended by more than 200 people.

The Hillcrest Region 2/3 plant has had trouble at times meeting a new 10 parts per billion federal drinking water standard, prompting drinking water warnings from the city at one point. The water now meets arsenic standards after the city shifted to a treatment process that has reduced the amount of water coming out of the plant. Otherwise, the water might turn brown.

Reese Crenshaw, an engineer with the state Department of Public Health, said the ferric chloride treatment the city is using to remove arsenic has reduced the plant's water production to marginal levels.

"You may have noticed some brown water — the city had to reduce the treatment rate," said Crenshaw. The plant is also not built to handle the corrosive treatment chemicals used to eliminate arsenic, said Crenshaw.

To meet arsenic standards, the city is recommending either a connection to surface water costing $3,900 per home, or an improved groundwater system totaling $5,310 per home.

Some residents say their water is OK, and don't believe they should have to pay to fix it. Any costs should be shared by all the city residents since it's the city's plant they maintain.

For Roberta Osgood, whose residence is connected to Hillcrest Region 2/3 water, the information about arsenic risks all sounded like a scare tactic. She said she has heard it before with the gasoline additive MTBE.

"I think what I'm getting at, it was scaremongering," Osgood said during the meeting. "You're trying to scare everybody."

Others on their way out of the meeting had a different take.

Phil Hohman, 65, of McCune Avenue, already knew what he was hearing — the city does not have a choice about fixing the plant because the federal government is mandating it.

Tony Galyean, a resident of Hillcrest Region 1, asked the City Council to give him the good water now, the surface water. The groundwater is not safe for his kids, he said.

"I want the water, I want it now," said Galyean. "I want the good water."

Contact Appeal-Democrat reporter John Dickey at 749-4711 or jdickey@appealdemocrat.com.