By James Ridgway Jr
The Courier of Montgomery County

Two county water systems contaminated with radiation

Houston, TX–Two public drinking water systems in Montgomery County have been reported as being contaminated with radiation.

Long-term exposure to the radionuclide contaminants within the water has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

The Hulon Lakes Subdivision and Vista Verde Water Systems, both near Lake Conroe, have exceeded the Maximum Contaminate Levels (MCL) as regulated by the EPA.

Dr. Alicia Diehl, drinking water quality team leader with the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, said radionuclide contamination in drinking water occurs naturally.

“(Radiation) comes from all around, the sky, from the surrounding geology. Even if someone avoided drinking any water at all, all of us are exposed to radiation every year from natural sources,” Dr. Diehl said.

Elston Johnson, TCEQ manager of the public drinking water section, said in addition to radiation occurring naturally, the radiation levels present in aquifers fluctuates.

“The levels can vary from year to year, season to season, decade to decade. That’s the problem with monitoring radioactivity; a lot of factors play into it.”

However, even with fluctuating levels of radiation, Hulon Lakes and Vista Verde Water Systems have been cited multiple years in a row for exceeding maximum contaminate levels.

Janice Hayes, communications manager with the managing company overseeing Hulon Lakes public water, SouthWest Water Company, said they have only received one call regarding the radionuclide contamination as of their last quarterly notice.

“Currently, the one well that is creating the violation is off-line and the pump station associated with this well is isolated from the distribution system. Because the Gross Alpha levels are lower in the other wells, we have created an in-tank blending system which should result in lower levels of Gross Alpha. We will continue to test, monitor and make adjustments as needed,” Hayes said.

The owner/operator of the Vista Verde Water System declined comment.

Dr. Diehl said the maximum contaminate levels established by the EPA for radiochemicals are extremely protective of public health—“They are based on what would happen if someone drank about a half-gallon of (public) water, every day, for 70 years.”

Water analysts test for two primary radionuclide contaminates initially, Dr. Diehl said, adjusted gross alpha radiation and combined radium-226/228. The MCL for the former is 15 picoCurie/liter (pCi/l), and the latter 5 pCi/l. Public drinking water exceeding these MCLs has been connected to increased risk of cancer.

Dr. Diehl said, in the past, the EPA had considered radionuclide levels posing an unreasonable risk to public health to be twice the MCL. However, these levels did not necessarily consider all the potential factors, she said.

“The jury is still out on this particular concern,” she said.

While residents on a public drinking water system are protected by EPA regulations, Johnson said residents on private wells are on their own.

“Unfortunately for private well owners, private wells are not regulated. They have to do the same type of analysis that the public drinking water systems do,” Johnson said. “And there’s no quick field test that can really achieve the results a lab test yields.”

Across Texas, the public water systems contaminated with radionuclides frequently show up in clusters. Dr. Diehl said these clusters are a sign of geological similarities.

Although there is no public data reporting radionuclide levels on private wells in Montgomery County, Dr. Diehl said it is possible that private wells near the same vicinity of the contaminated public water systems may show increased radionuclide levels.

“When we talk to private citizens about these concerns, basically what we try to do is find out their level of risk aversion,” Dr. Diehl said. “Take a family with kids on a private well. They might have a real concern. But we don’t have the authority to tell them to do anything. I would ask what are they most concerned about. They would probably say ‘we are concerned about our kids drinking this water.’ Then we could talk about treatment options that they could use just to ensure that they had drinking water that met their own standard.”

More information on radionuclide contamination can be found under the water section of the TCEQ’s website found at www.tceq. state.tx.us. Specific details on individuals community water systems can also be searched on the TCEQ site.

The Courier

By Andrew Dodson
| Booth Mid-Michigan The Bay City Times

MIDLAND, Texas — Two lawsuits have been filed on behalf of more than 250 West Texas residents against four companies they contend contaminated their water with hexavalent chromium, according to the Associated Press.

According to court documents obtained by the Midland Reporter-Telegram, the residents want compensation for past and future medical expenses, diminished property values, emotional distress, cases of wrongful death and other losses.

One of the four companies being sued in the lawsuit is Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co. Other defendants in the biggest lawsuit, filed by Midland, Texas attorney Brian Carney, are Schlumberger, Schlumberger Technology Corp. and Lear Corp. The second, smaller lawsuit, was filed on behalf of 10 plaintiffs.

Dow Spokesman Greg Baldwin said Dow received the complaint Monday and is currently reviewing it.

Hexavalent chromium is recognized as a human carcinogen through inhalation. Exposure is known to occur among workers who handle chromate-containing products as well has those who arc weld stainless steel.

The chemical compound was found in drinking water in the 1990s in Hinkley, Calif. and was brought to the attention by the involvement of Erin Brockovich. Carney is working in conjunction with Brockovich on the case.

In June 2009, the ground water in Midland, Texas, was found to be contaminated with chromium, which also involved Brockovich. Watch the video, here.

Read the full report from the Midland Reporter-Telegram.

Dow Chemical continues to face scrutiny after acknowledging responsibility for the dioxins and furan released into the Tittabawassee River from the 1930s to the 1970s. The chemical byproducts of combustion are linked to cancer, reproductive problems and weakened immune systems in laboratory animals.

A recent study says women living along the Tittabawassee and Saginaw rivers may be at a higher risk of developing breast cancer, due to the contamination, although Dow is critical of the report.

Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmentalist group, and the National Disease Clusters Alliance have released a report indicating Midland, Bay and Saginaw counties form a disease cluster, and researchers point the finger at the chemical dioxin.

Michigan Live

NDCA teamed with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to report on 42 disease clusters in 13 states. We intend to complete this pilot project and cover all 50 states and U.S. territories.

Read the report.

Health Alert: Disease Clusters Spotlight the Need to Protect People from Toxic Chemicals [pdf 1.5MB]