Group Challenges EPA Over Arsenic Levels in Drinking Water

Millions of Americans--including nearly 900,000 in Orange County--are drinking water with unsafe levels of arsenic, according to a study released Thursday by a national environmental group.

A study by the Natural Resources Defense Council of water districts in 25 states found high levels of the carcinogen in more than 6,900 communities. The federal government’s 58-year-old arsenic standard, currently under review, creates a lifetime cancer death risk of 1 in 100 for those drinking contaminated tap water, the group concluded.

But local officials say the report’s data and scientific analysis are flawed. The NRDC’s proposal to lower the arsenic standard would drive up water rates without providing any public health benefit, officials said.

The NRDC is threatening to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency unless it immediately improves its standards for arsenic levels. Attorneys for the nonprofit group accuse the agency of ignoring calls to reduce arsenic levels, complaints that stretch back to 1974.

The current standard allows 50 parts per billion, but EPA officials say more stringent standards are expected to go into effect next year.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance commonly found in rocks, soils and plants. Lethal at high levels, the toxin makes its way into water sources during well drilling or as a byproduct of industrial solvents seeping below ground, experts said.

California ranks among the worst states for levels of arsenic in treated and untreated water, the NRDC report found.

Orange County water and health officials maintain that the local water supply poses no health threat.

“As far as we know, the drinking water in Orange County is perfectly safe,” said Carole Neustadt, spokeswoman for the county’s Health Care Agency.

Of the 16 Orange County water agencies included in the report, all but one--the city of Fountain Valley--exceeded the NRDC’s proposed limit of 3 parts per billion. Readings ranged from 2.7 to 11 parts per billion.

The report found the Irvine Ranch Water District, for instance, had an average arsenic level of 4.4 parts per billion between 1980 and 1998. That level means a lifetime risk of about 1 in 1,250 of dying of cancer from arsenic in tap water, the study said. The district serves about 130,000 people in Irvine and parts of Tustin, Newport Beach and unincorporated Orange County.

District water quality director Ken Thompson called the report inaccurate. The agency’s 1999 arsenic average was slightly more than 3 parts per billion, he said. Thompson also criticized the group’s cancer risk calculations.

Other large Orange County districts with average arsenic levels above 3 parts per billion include those serving Huntington Beach, Fullerton and Buena Park. The report is available on the World Wide Web at www.nrdc.org.

The EPA is proposing a new maximum level of five parts per billion, according to an unreleased report under consideration by the federal Office of Management and Budget.

NRDC attorney Gail Ruderman Feuer called that level too high, noting that EPA standards for other toxins are equivalent to an arsenic standard of 0.5 parts per billion.

During a news conference held in the group’s West Los Angeles office, Feuer criticized EPA officials for delays in revising the arsenic standard. “While the government is dragging its feet, tens of millions of Americans continue to drink water with high levels of arsenic,” she said.

EPA officials said Thursday that the agency will take the report into consideration when it seeks public comment on the new standards later this year.