Board OKs Expanded Search for Chromium 6

Saying tests that uncovered high levels of chromium 6 raised troubling questions about water quality, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a measure Tuesday to expand the search for the suspected carcinogen in local water supplies.

The motion by Supervisor Mike Antonovich, approved unanimously, calls for county officials to test for chromium 6 in tap water at all county government facilities and report the results within six months.

Because the tap water is supplied by local water districts, supervisors also called for chromium 6 testing of 200 wells that supply drinking water, with results due in three months.

The vote comes in the wake of tests of tap water at 110 county offices--including health clinics and day-care centers--which found chromium 6 concentrations of up to 7.84 parts per billion, or about 40 times the suggested level of 0.2 parts per billion.

The findings led Antonovich to call for expanded testing, saying the first results “were troubling and raised more questions than they did answers.”

The county survey found the highest level of chromium 6, 7.84 parts per billion, at the Burbank Health Center, 1101 W. Magnolia Blvd.

Other facilities that had tap water with chromium 6 exceeding 4.9 parts per billion included a day-care center in Palmdale; county libraries in Rosemead, El Monte and Hacienda Heights, and health centers in La Puente and Alhambra.

State Department of Health Services officials insist that the levels detected are safe. Even so, they are studying a recommendation from the state Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment that could dramatically lower chromium 6 levels.

The county action Tuesday is one in a series of steps by state and local governments in response to an Aug. 20 Times story that reported state officials were planning to take up to five years to impose tougher chromium standards.

Gov. Gray Davis has signed legislation requiring state health officials to report on the chromium 6 threat by Jan. 1, 2002, and the Los Angeles City Council has asked the Department of Water and Power to report on the issue by the end of this month.

Meeting Tuesday night, the Burbank City Council discussed the possibility of closing one of its city wells that has had chromium readings of up to 50 parts per billion--the state limit.

But the council took no action, saying it needed to consult with Lockheed Martin Corp., which operates the well for the city under a federal court order to clean up the ground water.

“We will do whatever we can to reduce the amount of chromium 6 in our drinking water,” Councilman Dave Golonski said.

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Meanwhile, the city of Glendale has delayed adding treated ground water to its tap-water mix, amid residents’ concerns about chromium 6 in drinking water supplies.

Glendale officials have asked the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency--which is monitoring cleanup of the San Fernando Valley’s ground-water basin--for a 90-day delay in receiving the treated ground water. A $20-million water treatment plant, designed and operated by polluters, including Lockheed Martin Corp. and ITT Technologies, was set to begin providing Glendale residents with the new water mix two weeks ago.

California has no formal standard for chromium 6, but instead limits levels of total chromium to 50 parts per billion. Water tested by the county fell below that limit.

In 1999, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment formally proposed lowering total allowable chromium levels to 2.5 parts per billion.

That proposal--now under review by the Department of Health Services--would effectively limit chromium 6 to 0.2 parts per billion, agency officials say.

Critics have accused the state of foot-dragging in adopting a tougher standard, but federal, state and county health officials have said the scientific evidence suggesting that chromium 6 is a carcinogen is unclear.

Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky sought to address that issue in an amendment to Antonovich’s motion Tuesday.

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The amendment, also approved unanimously, directs the county’s Environmental Toxicology Bureau to work with state and local health officials in creating testing protocols and assessing the results.

To better inform the public, the board also called on officials in the county’s 88 cities to publicly report chromium 6 concentrations in their municipal supplies.

Supervisors also asked Davis to expedite the state’s chromium study and help defray cleanup costs for Los Angeles County drinking water.

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Also Tuesday, Antonovich asked the county administrative office to study whether bottled water can be provided at county facilities.

The testing of tap water at each of the county’s 2,400 facilities will cost about $144,000--or $60 per facility.

Chromium 6 played a central role in the Hinkley, Calif., toxic case dramatized in the film “Erin Brockovich.”

Concentrations there, however, were 24 parts per million, 3,000 times higher than levels detected by the county study.

Chromium 6, a byproduct of metal-plating and other industrial activities, is classified as a carcinogen when inhaled as particles or fumes.

Some scientists argue that it should not be present in water at all, while water officials insist that their water is safe, saying there is insufficient scientific evidence linking chromium 6 in water to illnesses.

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Times staff writer Jean Guccione contributed to this story.