Experts Keep Wary Eye on Solvent Found in Hawthorne Well Water

Trace amounts of an industrial solvent have been detected in a Hawthorne municipal water well in what experts are calling the first evidence of chemical pollution of the South Bay’s underground drinking water supplies.

The solvent, trichloroethylene, was discovered in December in a Southern California Water Co. well at the northwest corner of the intersection of Truro Avenue and Imperial Highway.

In March, a second test found no trace of the solvent in the well, which is used with other water sources to serve homes and businesses in Lennox, Hawthorne and Inglewood. Water experts plan to test the well again this month.

The extremely low concentrations of the solvent that were found in December pose no threat to public health, experts say. But water officials expressed concern about the appearance of any contamination in the South Bay’s deep aquifers, from which a quarter of the region’s drinking water is drawn.

“This is the first detection in the West Basin,” said Thomas Salzano, manager of water supply services for the West Basin Municipal Water District. “My fear is that this could be the leading edge of some contamination that took place in and around the LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) area that has apparently found a pathway into the deeper aquifers.”

The test result was contained in an annual report on South Bay water supplies compiled in April by Bookman-Edmonston Engineering Inc., a Glendale consulting firm.

Experts stress that the finding should not be cause for immediate concern. They point to the follow-up testing in March, which turned up no trace of trichloroethylene, a chemical used mostly for industrial grease removal, or any other contaminant.

When the solvent was detected in December, it appeared in concentrations of 1.2 parts per billion, well below the 5-parts-per-billion level at which water providers are required to alert consumers.

Drinking two liters of water a day containing 5 parts per billion of the solvent over 70 years would cause an average of one additional cancer per 1 million consumers, according to state Department of Health Services spokesman Allen Hirsch.

“The 1.2-parts-per-billion level of TCE is considered to be insignificant,” Hirsch said. “Our public water supply (office) has declared that anything below 5 parts per billion is safe.”

Rusty Hodges, the district superintendent for Southern California Water Co., said his company plans to test the Hawthorne well again this month. He said he was heartened by the results of the sampling conducted in March.

“It may have been a blip, so to speak, in December,” Hodges said. “One of the biggest concerns from that test was that it might be the tip of the iceberg.”

The detection of industrial solvent in one of the South Bay’s estimated 46 municipal water wells comes amid mounting concern about ground-water contamination in the area.

Last year, officials from a range of government agencies began pooling geologic, hydrologic and pollution data to determine whether ground-water cleanup in the area should be accelerated.

Contamination from polluters, ranging from homeowners and dry cleaners to factories and oil refineries, has already tainted shallow ground water and portions of upper aquifers that are not used for drinking water.

Hodges said the discovery of solvent in the Hawthorne well should serve as a warning that the South Bay may pay for its improper disposal practices.