CITY WON'T USE WATER CHROMIUM 6 DOUBTS LINGER.Byline: Jennifer Hamm Staff Writer GLENDALE - Citing concerns that chromium 6 levels are too high, Glendale officials said late Friday that they are unwilling to accept water from a new treatment plant for at least the next four years. Local officials told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and that they want to further delay the official opening of the plant until experts determine the level at which the suspected carcinogen carcinogen: see cancer. carcinogen Agent that can cause cancer. Exposure to one or more carcinogens, including certain chemicals, radiation, and certain viruses, can initiate cancer under conditions not completely understood. is safe, and how that goal can be achieved. ``There is no standard for chromium 6. Our council has been concerned that if you don't have a standard, how can you be sure that the water is safe to drink?'' said Donald Froelich, water services administrator for the city of Glendale. ``The council has taken the position they want to make sure the water is safe to drink before the water is delivered to the citizens.'' The city had already postponed the opening of the $25 million Flower Street treatment plant for months because it wanted to test the levels of chromium 6. With the permission of the EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. , the city has been dumping 5,000 gallons of the treated water a minute into the Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River is an intermittent river flowing through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles (82 km) southeast to its mouth in Long Beach. . Public interest in the industrial chemical has heightened in the past year, since the release of the movie ``Erin Brockovich,'' which depicted health problems caused by chromium 6 contamination in Hinkley, Calif. The EPA oversees the site because it is part of a Superfund program Noun 1. Superfund program - the federal government's program to locate and investigate and clean up the worst uncontrolled and abandoned toxic waste sites nationwide; administered by the Environmental Protection Agency; "some have intimated that the Superfund's money designed to clean up chemically contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. groundwater in the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Though the levels of total chromium in the treatment plant water are below state and federal standards of 50 and 100 parts per billion, respectively, they exceed the state public health goal of 2.5 ppb. During the next four years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time city hopes to use new technology that would lower chromium 6 to almost undetectable levels. The city is working with state and federal officials to secure the $1 million to $2 million needed for the pilot project. Also during this time, the state will be researching whether it should lower the state standard of total chromium and establish a chromium 6 standard. City officials said in the letter to the EPA that their long-term goal is still to accept the water from the treatment plant. EPA officials confirmed that they received the letter that was due Jan. 31, but declined to comment on the specifics. City officials will travel to San Francisco on Feb. 8 to meet with EPA officials. |
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