Evolution of a Chromium 6 Cop

He’s not a household name, like Erin Brockovich, but Mel Blevins has emerged as a central figure in the controversy over chromium 6 contamination in the San Fernando Valley aquifer.

As the court-appointed water master for the Upper Los Angeles River Area, it is Blevins’ job to monitor the quality and quantity of water being drawn from Valley wells by the cities of Los Angeles, Glendale, Burbank and San Fernando.

Two years ago, when a state agency first raised the prospect of toughening standards for total chromium (as a means of limiting the suspected carcinogen chromium 6), Blevins sounded an alarm. The new standard, he warned the State Water Resources Control Board, could force the cities to close local wells and spend millions to buy imported water.

More recently, Blevins, 65, has complained that Glendale is dumping valuable water into the Los Angeles River because of chromium 6 contamination, and he has urged the San Fernando City Council not to close wells with detectable levels of the suspected carcinogen. In both cases, Blevins has argued that the water met state health guidelines.

He has even criticized Brockovich, the legal investigator who helped win a $333-million settlement for Hinkley, Calif., residents who drank chromium 6-tainted water, for her support for the proposed tougher chromium standards statewide. Brockovich is the subject of a popular movie.

But as momentum has built for stricter limits, Blevins’ position has evolved and he has begun targeting suspected chromium 6 polluters.

His No. 1 target is Lockheed Martin Corp., which used chromium 6 as a rust inhibitor in water circulated through cooling towers at its former Burbank defense plant. Blevins has said he believes that the company discharged the chromium 6-laced water back into the aquifer, in accord with common practice of the time. Lockheed has said there is no evidence the water got into the aquifer.

Blevins said he still has doubts about the state’s proposed public health goal of 2.5 parts per billion for total chromium, saying that it is “based on a flawed study and needs to be reevaluated.”

“But whatever the enforceable level for total chromium and chromium 6,” he said, “the polluters who polluted the water basin should be stuck with the bill.”

A burly Kansas native who won’t hesitate to bend an ear, Blevins was named water master by then-Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Harry Hupp in 1979 after the conclusion of a two-decade court battle over water rights involving Burbank, Glendale, Los Angeles and San Fernando.

Under the court order, Blevins operates with an annual budget of $500,000 paid by the parties to the court judgment. As part of the judgment, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power provides Blevins a staff of 10 DWP workers, office space and services.

The support staff monitors wells, conducts ground water studies, compiles and collects data from local water agencies, and prepares regular reports on ground water issues.

During his tenure, he has reported to eight judges; he reports now to Superior Court Judge Susan Byrant Deason. The court can retain jurisdiction over the issue indefinitely, he said.

Blevins’ workplace on the 14th floor of the DWP building resembles a neatly arranged storage closet, with the walls lined with bookcases filled with engineering texts and report binders, as well as piles of old well maps and stacks of memos and legal documents.

Before he was appointed the water master, Blevins had been a DWP employee since 1957--directing hydrologic and geologic studies of the Mono Basin and Owens Valley. Married with three adult children, he also teaches engineering classes at USC and UCLA.

Los Angeles City Councilman Joel Wachs has criticized Blevins, saying that the water master has been more concerned about the costs of tightening the standards than about public health.

Even so, Wachs acknowledged that he is encouraged by Blevins’ willingness to go after Lockheed and others that may have been responsible for chromium 6 pollution in the Valley.

“I want him to be out there,” Wachs said. “I want him to be in the lead because he is in a unique position to both know the truth and be on the forefront of making change to protect the public’s health.”

Said Blevins: “I try to deal with things in a fair and equitable fashion. I’m trying to make sure the job gets done.”