COUNTYWIDE : Only 1 Water Agency Meets Test Deadline

Only one of Ventura County’s four largest water providers has met a June 30 deadline to test the tap water in homes for high levels of lead and copper, a federal environmental official said Friday.

Water suppliers for the cities of Oxnard, Ventura and Simi Valley each failed to meet the new drinking water regulations adopted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, said Bill Robberson, who manages the state EPA program.

Of county providers who supply water to at least 50,000 residents, only the California-American Water Co. in Newbury Park submitted the results of sampling tests by the deadline, Robberson said.

Small and medium-sized water providers have until the end of the year to meet the same regulation.

Robberson said the EPA will send letters to each of the non-complying agencies informing them that they are violating the new regulations, which went into effect Jan. 1.

The letters will inform the agencies that they face combined administrative and civil penalties of $7,500 a day if they remain in violation, Robberson said.

“They will have a certain length of time to come into compliance or face penalties,” said Robberson, who described the monetary fines as a last resort.

Officials in area agencies said they intend to fulfill the requirements of the new regulation.

Part of the reason for the cities’ tardiness, Robberson conceded, was the inability of the state to adopt the federal regulation.

Alexis Milea of the state Office of Drinking Water said state health officials were unable to identify the funds needed for the state to adopt the regulation on its own. After negotiations, the EPA agreed to implement the regulation for the state.

As a result, Milea said, notices to large utilities were not mailed until early June. “The regulation requires a considerable amount of effort for utilities to comply,” she said.

But Milea and Robberson pointed out that the water agencies were obliged to comply with the federal regulation regardless of whether the state adopted it.