State to check on drinking water
State health officials are examining records and talking with Riverside County officials about testing done at a well next to a Crestmore Heights cement plant where regulators have discovered high levels of a cancer-causing toxin called hexavalent chromium.
Area residents have used the well for drinking water for decades, and officials are now investigating where the residents now obtain their water.
“We’re taking this very seriously,” said Ken August, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Health.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District found levels of hexavalent chromium around the plant to be 10 times higher than typical. They concluded the source was large outdoor dust piles at the TXI Riverside Cement plant.
AQMD officials will hold a community meeting Monday to discuss their findings and answer questions. The 6:30 p.m. meeting will be at Ina Arbuckle Elementary School, 3600 Packard St., Rubidoux. For information, call Pom Pom Ganguli, the AQMD’s public advisor, at (909) 396-3185.
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-- Janet Wilson
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