ULTIMATUM FROM WATER REGULATORS UNDERGROUND NITRATES' SPREAD MUST BE HALTED.Byline: Charles F. Bostwick Staff Writer PALMDALE - Water quality officials ordered Palmdale's sewage treatment Sewage treatment Unit processes used to separate, modify, remove, and destroy objectionable, hazardous, and pathogenic substances carried by wastewater in solution or suspension in order to render the water fit and safe for intended uses. plant operators to halt the spread of an underground pollutant pol·lut·ant n. Something that pollutes, especially a waste material that contaminates air, soil, or water. within 22 months. Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board members said they may further tighten restrictions and move deadlines sooner for the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County sanitation district plant. One member raised the possibility that they could halt building in Palmdale if the pollution is not controlled. ``It's been going on too long up to this point,'' board member William Betterley said at a hearing Wednesday night in Palmdale. The problem is nitrates - a pollutant that can cause a condition known as ``blue baby'' syndrome among infants - leaching into the underground water table from Sanitation District 20's 23-year-old practice of spreading treated sewage effluent on barren land to soak into the ground. The Daily News reported last month that sanitation district officials want to change the procedure to using the treated effluent for irrigation irrigation, in agriculture, artificial watering of the land. Although used chiefly in regions with annual rainfall of less than 20 in. (51 cm), it is also used in wetter areas to grow certain crops, e.g., rice. of alfalfa alfalfa (ălfăl`fə) or lucern (l  sûn`), perennial leguminous plant (Medicago sativa or other nonfood non·food adj. Of, relating to, or being something that is not food but is sold in a supermarket, as housewares or stationery. crops - and that they are exploring methods for removing algae algae (ăl`jē) [plural of Lat. alga=seaweed], a large and diverse group of primarily aquatic plantlike organisms. These organisms were previously classified as a primitive subkingdom of the plant kingdom, the thallophytes (plants that from the effluent so it could be used to water golf courses and landscaping. Sanitation officials propose using effluent for farming on a mile-square area bordered by Avenues O and P and 50th and 60th streets east. When effluent is used to irrigate ir·ri·gate v. To wash out a cavity or wound with a fluid. plants, the nitrogen it contains is absorbed by plants as fertilizer, so it doesn't seep into the ground. In addition, the sanitation district is expected to install pumps to draw out the most highly 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. underground water, so the contamination doesn't spread farther. But county officials warned that over the next five years the new plans may triple the $5 a month Palmdale homeowners now pay for sewage treatment. Water board officials said even at $15 a month, sewer service would be cheaper than in other communities. The east Palmdale sewage plant takes in sewage from businesses and homes of 150,000 people - about 9.5 million gallons of effluent a day, up from 750,000 gallons a day when the plant opened in 1953 to serve a population of fewer than 10,000 people. Over the last couple of decades, only about 2 percent to 3 percent of the outflow has been used to irrigate crops, including alfalfa and Christmas trees Christmas tree Evergreen tree, usually decorated with lights and ornaments, to celebrate the Christmas season. The use of evergreen trees, wreaths, and garlands as symbols of eternal life was common among the ancient Egyptians, Chinese, and Hebrews. . The rest was pumped onto hundreds of acres of spreading grounds. By law the effluent cannot be used on carrots or other vegetables or grains eaten by humans. In the last few months, the percentage used on crops has increased to 34 percent, said Stephen Maguin, head of the sanitation district's Solid Waste Management Department. Nitrates in well water pulled from near the spreading grounds since 1990 have periodically tested above the state cleanup level of 10 milligrams per liter, and computer projections show that if things don't change by 2025 the level could reach 24. The natural or background level is 0.75 milligrams per liter, officials said. Nitrates in well water is a common problem in small communities that get water from wells and also rely on septic tanks septic tank, underground sedimentation tank in which sewage is retained for a short period while it is decomposed and purified by bacterial action. The organic matter in the sewage settles to the bottom of the tank, a film forms excluding atmospheric oxygen, and for their sewage. Much of Littlerock, for example, was under a subdivision moratorium from 1989 to 1999 because of high nitrate levels. Littlerock's highest nitrate concentrations were nearly eight times the level tested below the Palmdale spreading grounds, records show. In 2000, the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board directed the sanitation district to come up with a plan to lessen its Palmdale sewage treatment plant's impact on groundwater. At a hearing Wednesday night at the Palmdale Water District headquarters, Lahontan board members said they were disappointed in sanitation officials' proposals for not being extensive enough. ``It appears the solution is not the kind of leap you'd think the problem warranted. It's an improvement, but it's basically more of the same,'' vice chairman Eric Sandel said. Board member Betterley called the sewage plant's present spreading practice ``simply horrible.'' Board member John Clarke John Clarke may be:
v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. the water table. Clarke suggested the sanitation district would have done better to increase rates to pay for better treatment processes, rather than taking advantage of Antelope Valley's cheap vacant land. Board member John Brissenden raised the possibility of halting further hookups to the sewage treatment plant if sanitation officials miss the September 2005 deadline for halting the spread of the nitrate pollution underground. That would mean that no new houses or business buildings could be built in Palmdale except ones on septic tanks. ``We have a big stick here,'' Brissenden said. Charles F. Bostwick, (661) 267-5742 chuck.bostwick(at)dailynews.com |
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