PDA

View Full Version : Chromium 6 Contamination Confirmed in Havasu



hot_diggity_dog
09-23-2004, 05:46 AM
Chromium 6 Contamination Confirmed
Story by: Mark Hall
The groundwater beneath an empty lot that once served as a chemical disposal area for the now-defunct McCulloch chainsaw factory is contaminated with hexavalent chromium, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality confirmed Wednesday. :sqeyes:
The contamination does not pose a health risk to citizens who live nearby, Lake Havasu City and state officials said, basing their conclusion on recent water tests. :messedup:
While the ADEQ has been aware of chromium contamination for a number of years, Director Steve Owens said the agency believes that the element used in industrial processes has migrated through the site - once known as Kiowa Ponds - which is located south of the Wal-Mart shopping center and west of State Route 95.
"The water appears to be migrating to the northwest (of the lot). It's not really a plume of groundwater; it's more a matter of contamination of groundwater," Owens said.
The ADEQ began drilling two monitoring wells earlier this week, including one in the southwest corner of Kiowa Avenue and SR 95, and has plans for three additional wells in the future.
"So we're having the new wells installed to see the level of contamination and to further characterize the direction," he said.
Owens said the contaminated groundwater does not pose any risk to residents living near the area and it is still safe to drink water from the tap.
"We don't have any indication that there is any risk to the drinking water supply," he said.
City spokesman Charlie Cassens added: "The city's drinking water supply does not show a problem for chromium."
The element that has been specifically identified is chromium 6, a non-naturally occurring form of the substance that has been linked to ulcers, convulsions, kidney and liver damage and death, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Diseases Registry.
The chromium has seeped its way through the soil into the groundwater over the past 20 years, Owens said, after it was first sent to the ponds for disposal from the chainsaw manufacturing plant, along with other industrial chemicals.
"It originated in the (Kiowa) ponds and has gotten into the groundwater and has moved around in the past 20 years," he said.
The ADEQ has been testing and tracking the groundwater since the mid-1990s, and a couple of wells were sunk in the latter part of the decade.
"There has been active monitoring at the site since 1999 and a number of wells have been installed since that time to evaluate the level of contamination on the property," Owens said. "It's been an ongoing thing. There have been concerns about groundwater contamination since the 1990s."
In addition to the ponds, ADEQ will look into the entire McCulloch site, including one of the former factory buildings located about 300 yards due east of the ponds at 900 N. Lake Havasu Ave. (presently occupied by the Coach Net company) and another site where another manufacturing facility was once located (648 N. Lake Havasu Ave). Both are listed in the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund database.
However, neither site is on the actual Superfund priority list for cleanup of environmental contamination.
The Shop Vac Company bought out the McCulloch Corporation in the early 1990s, and even though it no longer owns the land, it is still liable for the pollution, Owens said. Nevertheless, he said the company is currently paying for the investigation.
After the pumps are drilled and the water is studied - which should be concluded in late October - the ADEQ will pass down recommendations for cleanup.
"We'll be requiring the company to prepare to send a remediation plan on how they are going to clean up the groundwater. All of that will be dependent on the level (of chromium) in the groundwater," he said.
The city currently owns the Kiowa Ponds property and has given its full permission to the ADEQ for testing.
Becci Angell contributed to this report.
HDD :cool:

lewiville
09-23-2004, 05:51 AM
2 words............ARON BRAKETHEBANKBITCH
doesnt sound good to me :idea:

NashvilleBound
09-23-2004, 05:51 AM
So it begins.....

MsDrmr
09-23-2004, 06:01 AM
dont they always say there is no risk factor, and then someone gets sick and then someone else and so on,,until years later they decide "oh, I guess it was a problem" :burningm: They always say shit to cover their backs, then a few years down the road, they are buried in it.

Mrs. Bordsmnj
09-23-2004, 06:59 AM
Its up in the Golden Shores/Topock area too. I think that its actually in the clean up stages there though. :rolleyes:

6 Dollar Boat
09-23-2004, 07:10 AM
Chromium 6 Contamination Confirmed
Story by: Mark Hall
Owens said the contaminated groundwater does not pose any risk to residents living near the area and it is still safe to drink water from the tap.
Who drinks the tap water in Havasu? We put a reverse osmosis filter on the icemaker, so that water wont ruin our cocktails. Sometimes it is brown... :(

racecar.hotshoe
09-23-2004, 07:12 AM
Im thinking Erin Brockovich

jtmarten
09-23-2004, 07:16 AM
Doesn't matter what they say, Hexavalent Chromium is some nasty stuff!
We use it here in a production environment as Potassium Dichromate and the warning label is about a mile long. You definitely don't want this stuff near your drinking water.
Jeff
Meridian Analytical

Sleek-Jet
09-23-2004, 07:32 AM
... and Lake Powell flooded numerous Uranium mines and tailing sites. The waters from most of the rivers on the Western slope of Colorado flow past and through old gold mines that have old leach ponds leaking into the streams...
I could probably go out right now and scoop up a shovel full of dirt, and find more nasty shit in it than any of us would like to believe.
How does LHC get it's drinking water, is anyone on wells?? It is treated, right?? This just screams scandle, but I doubt there is to much to get upset about.