[CPEO-MEF] El Centro Naval Air Facility drinking water order

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Press Release
U.S. EPA
December 5, 2006

U.S. EPA orders federal contractor, U.S. Navy to reduce drinking water 
chemical levels at El Centro Naval Air Facility



LOS ANGELES - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently ordered 
KBR Inc. and the U.S. Department of the Navy to reduce the levels of 
total trihalomethanes - byproducts of water disinfection - from drinking 
water available at the Naval Air Facility El Centro, Calif.

Located at 1605 Third Street, the Naval Air Facility provides drinking 
water for approximately 4,000 persons. The water plant is operated by 
KBR Inc., a federal government contractor.

"Chemical byproducts in treated drinking water must meet federal 
guidelines to protect public health," said Alexis Strauss, water 
director for the EPA Pacific Southwest. "The EPA will ensure this system 
returns promptly to compliance and keeps the public well-informed."

Byproducts such as trihalomethanes are formed when disinfectants used in 
water treatment plants react with bromide and/or natural organic matter 
such as decaying vegetation present in source water. After years of 
consumption, trihalomethanes may cause liver, kidney or central nervous 
system problems and may increase the risk of cancer.

The U.S. Department of the Navy is required to notify the public when 
levels are above health-based standards. Between 2004 and 2006, the 
drinking water at the Naval Air Facility in El Centro averaged 116 
parts-per-billion of total trihalomethanes, violating federal drinking 
water standards of 80 parts-per-billion.

By Jan. 31, the U.S. Department of the Navy must provide a written 
compliance plan describing how it will meet EPA water regulations. By 
Dec. 31, 2007, the Navy must reduce its total trihalomethane levels to 
below federal standards. (Failure to comply with the EPA order could 
result in fines up to $32,500 per day per violation.)

The EPA established new disinfection byproduct regulations in 1998 to 
protect public health from potentially harmful byproduct chemicals that 
form when chlorine reacts with natural organic compounds during the 
treatment process.

For more information on the EPA’s drinking water programs, please visit: 
http://www.epa.gov/region09/water/drinking/index.html

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...

For the original press release, see
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/8207a5fa1f15abe08525723b0077b9db?OpenDocument

--


Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org

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