WATER CLEANUP URGED CHEMICALS IN LOCAL SUPPLY LINKED TO CANCER.

Byline: Nicholas Grudin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A local water purveyor is urging the Castaic Lake Water Agency to accelerate efforts to reduce a dangerous chemical in the water supply before a federal standard takes effect in January.

Newhall County Water District board member Lynne Plambeck this week called upon the agency to address the issue of trihalomethanes or THMs, byproducts of chlorine treatment that have been linked to cancer and pregnancy complications.

``We're furious about this,'' Plambeck said. ``It's inconceivable that Castaic has proceeded without fixing this stuff.''

Castaic officials counter that a $20 million renovation at their Earl Schmidt Water Filtration plant near Castaic Lake will fix the problem, although it will not be finished until a year after the federal Environmental Protection Agency's deadline for the Newhall District.

``We're doing everything we can as fast as we can,'' said Steve McLean, principal engineer for the Castaic agency.

EPA officials say that, while THMs can cause cancer and pregnancy problems, the risks are low from the levels in the Newhall District.

``Will folks get hurt drinking water over the next few months? I doubt it,'' said Bruce Macler, drinking water risk assessor for the EPA in San Francisco. ``But the more compliance we can have, the more comfortable we are that things will be taken care of.''

In 1996, the EPA tightened its standards for allowable levels of THMs in the water from 100 milligrams to 80 milligrams per liter. Each milligram per liter is equal to about one drop in a swimming pool.

The EPA regulation was implemented in 2001 for larger water agencies like Castaic - which delivers state water to the Santa Clarita Valley - but will not take effect until 2004 for smaller companies such as the Newhall District.

Although the Castaic agency is in compliance with the standard, the water it passes to retailers in the region is not necessarily so, because THMs can multiply on an hourly basis as chlorine reacts with organic matter.

Because it can take up to a day for treated water to get from Castaic plants to Newhall District customers, water in compliance at the plants may be in violation of federal standards when it reaches consumers.

``It's a quirk of the regulations. We're fully in compliance,'' McLean said. ``They're taking our water, and they're not going to be in compliance.''

The Newhall District will face penalties from the California Department of Health Services, including being required to circulate a public notice that its water is not up to standards.

``It makes us the bad guys and we're not,'' protested Plambeck, saying Castaic Lake Water Agency officials are the ones who should take the heat. ``And they've had many years to fix it. They're working on a conversion, but the conversion has not been a high priority.''

Last month, the Newhall District passed a resolution urging the Castaic agency to speed up a solution.

Nicholas Grudin, [phone]

nicholas.grudin(at)dailynews.com