Tests Find Jail’s Drinking Water Safe Despite Soil Contamination

Tests show that drinking water at a county-run jail in Castaic is safe, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said Tuesday, despite the recent discovery that the soil of a nearby canyon is chemically contaminated, perhaps by confiscated drugs.

An independent laboratory determined that drinking and agricultural water from wells at the Peter J. Pitchess Honor Rancho are “well within state standards for drinking water,” Sgt. Ron Spear said.

“The Sheriff’s Department does not anticipate any threat to inmates, employees or the public,” Spear said.

The sprawling 2,800-acre jail facility has several wells and its own water storage system serving about 8,000 inmates and about 1,000 department employees, Lt. Willie Miller said. The jail also has a dairy farm, bakery and landfill.

But the department still does not know what chemicals are present in the canyon, which is just southwest of the landfill, Spear said. The chemicals were found in September during routine soil testing in the area.

Department records indicate that chemicals seized from drug labs by authorities possibly were buried in the canyon in the 1970s, Spear said. But the records are inconclusive.

The department contracted last week with the firm of Law/Crandall Inc. to determine whether the chemicals found in the canyon are hazardous. The work is expected to be completed by March, Spear said.