Chromium in the Water Supply

* Re “Brockovich Warns Panel of ‘Poison’,” Sept. 16.

Andrew Blankstein’s well-balanced article brings a critically important issue to our attention. How many of your friends regularly drink L.A. municipal tap water? In my case, none that I can recall. I believe it’s because municipal water supplies, nationwide have lost the confidence of the public.

I recently received in the mail a very nice booklet from the L.A. Department of Water and Power--their annual report on water quality. The report cites the levels for many known or suspected carcinogens. The levels of these compounds in Los Angeles water are below the danger levels specified by state and federal agencies.

There is no such thing as a safe level of a carcinogen because there are many known and unknown factors that come into play. For example, determination of these “safe” levels is often based on extrapolation data, with no direct testing. In addition, determination of safe levels often does not take into account co-carcinogen effects, where a specific agent may be much more potent when in the presence of other agents.

This is a national problem. There should be zero tolerance for known or suspected carcinogens in municipal water supplies. No wonder confidence in municipal water is low.

STEVEN B. OPPENHEIMER

CSUN Center for Cancer

and Developmental Biology

Northridge

*

Re “Chick, Wachs Rip DWP Over Chromium Tests,” Sept. 15.

It is unbelievable that [water master Mel] Blevins and the DWP are trying to con us into believing that there is an “acceptable” level of chromium 6 in L.A. drinking water.

Is there an acceptable level of cancer? Isn’t safe drinking water our right as taxpayers and as human beings?

Make Firestone your example, DWP, and do right by us now. Hindsight will be too late.

KATHY McGRATH

Sherman Oaks

*

Re “Calls for Reducing Chromium Levels in Water Go Unheeded,” Aug. 20.

I look forward to getting up early Sunday morning and reading The Times with a nice hot cup of tea, made with Burbank water. I read the article on chromium while I was on my second cup, and stopped drinking it halfway through because I was so sickened and disgusted at what I was reading about the current levels of toxic chromium 6 in the Burbank water we drink.

Wake up, you water board. How can you think it is too expensive to clean up a problem that you know will cause cancer over time? What will the long-range implications be on our medical system, insurance, not to mention the pain and suffering that countless people will experience when they develop cancer and are forced to endure painful treatments because of your negligence?

We all pay taxes that are supposed to make our lives better, and our children’s too here in California, so spend some of this hard-earned money to clean up our water.

How ironic that the one thing that we cannot live without now has the potential to slowly build up toxic levels in our body and may one day kill us.

MELISSE DesROCHERS

Burbank