Chromium Detected in Santa Ana

Chromium and chromium-6 have contaminated the soil and shallow ground water at a Santa Ana industrial site, but officials said the carcinogen has not been detected in the county’s drinking water.

Jeanne Garcia, spokeswoman for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, said the contaminated site is at Embee Inc., a chrome plating business, on South Hathaway Street. Garcia said that Embee is cooperating with authorities but that the source of the pollution has not been identified.

“We don’t know the extent of the contamination yet. We’re trying to determine where it’s coming from, how big the plume is and in which direction it’s traveling,” she said.

Tom Seckington, a hazardous substance engineer with the agency, said there is no imminent danger to drinking water. He said that drinking water is pumped from an aquifer that is about 600 feet below the surface. The contaminated ground water is from 8 to 18 feet below ground, he said.

The Orange County Health Care Agency reported that total chromium contamination at the site measures 1,300 parts per million in the soil and 450 ppm in the ground water. The maximum contaminant level allowed by the state in drinking water is .05 ppm.

The more toxic chromium-6 contamination was measured at 1,500 ppm in the soil and 500 ppm in the water. There is no maximum contaminant level for chromium-6. In a written statement, agency officials said that chromium-6 is more deadly when inhaled.