February 2006

"Old Water Made New"
"Preparations for & Response to an Emergency"
"UltraStrip's Filtration and WaterEye's Homeland Security Monitoring Systems Team Up"
"Proposed Lake Would Submerge Wellfields, Water Plants"
"Traces of Prescription Drugs Found in Southland Aquifers"
"World Economic Forum: Alternative Approaches to Water Management"
"Strapped Pacific Lumber Plans to Sell 60,000 Acres"
"Workers Allege Halliburton Knew Their Water Was Foul"



"Our Say: Legislators Shouldn't Dilute Flush Fee"
"Tapping Into Lake Michigan"
"Toss Out the New Orleans 'Toxic Soup' Myth"



"Governor's Water Plans Raise Concerns"
"CA: The California Water Plan Update is Now Available"
"Progress On Way in Restoring Bay?"
"Lawsuit Has State Scrambling to Meet Clean Water Act"
"Lawyer: Water Tank Dispute Is Not Misuse of Eminent Domain"

Old Water Made New
Pollution Engineering (01/06) Vol. 38, No. 1, P. 10 ; Sevenandt, Wendy

California's Orange County and Sanitation District has teamed with the Orange County Water District (OCWD) to build the Groundwater Replenishment (GWR) system. The system can purify sewer water that is now funneled to the ocean, and will inject most of the purified water into a seawater intrusion barrier. The GWR project can improve water quality beyond standards required of bottled water, while protecting Orange County's groundwater basin through injections of the purified water into the underground barrier. In addition, the system will reduce the amount of wastewater pumped into the ocean. The Sanitation District explored a number of control measures to address 1,4-dioxane and n-Nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA) levels in the source water. A survey conducted by the Sanitation District reported that metal finishing industries and printed circuit board manufacturers were the primary cause of the high levels of both organic compounds found in the water. The Sanitation District also modified its primary and secondary treatment process to reduce ammonia and amine levels in treated water. The OCWD now uses a three-tier purification process with the GWR system that will make the previous lime clarification-based system obsolete.
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Preparations for & Response to an Emergency
Water & Wastes Digest (01/06) Vol. 46, No. 1, P. 62 ; Rakoczy, Erik

In an interview with Water & Wastes Digest, Houston Public Utilities director Jeff Taylor talks of preparations for Hurricane Rita and the lessons learned after impact and cleanup. Past experiences warned that flood damage was to be expected. Previous storms flooded the water utility's facilities, so preparations were made to safeguard mechanical equipment and instrumentation. Nevertheless, Taylor said he was not so concerned over the risks of major water contamination. When Rita hit, power outages were experienced as anticipated. Generators were used to restore power where immediate problems were evinced. The utility also worked closely with Center Point Energy, its power provider, giving them a daily prioritized list of facilities that required power restoration. The federal government pitched in with help to procure very large generators for a pumping station that lost power.
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UltraStrip's Filtration and WaterEye's Homeland Security Monitoring Systems Team Up
PRNewswire (02/02/06)

UltraStrip Systems, Inc., a homeland security technology company, has formed an alliance with WaterEye Corporation for monitoring water systems for Homeland Security, military, and industrial applications. WaterEye's patented water monitoring systems will be installed on the filtration equipment manufactured through UltraStrip's wholly owned subsidiary, Ecosphere Technologies, Inc. Ecosphere recently signed a Joint Marketing and Supply Agreement with Pierce Manufacturing, a subsidiary of Oshkosh Truck Corporation, to jointly manufacture a Tactical Water Filtration Truck. "This is an innovative solution that can help protect our nation's water supply from both natural disasters and terrorist attacks," said Joe Allbaugh, former FEMA director and UltraStrip board member. "It's a good example of how the private sector can work together to help secure our nation's future." Ecosphere's equipment is the only high-volume filtration system to be tested and verified by the EPA through their Environmental Technology Verification Program for a terrorist attack.
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Proposed Lake Would Submerge Wellfields, Water Plants
Lincoln Journal Star (NE) (01/29/06) ; Laukatis, Algis J.

In 1991, Lincoln, Neb., began a plan to broaden its drinking water system. At that time, it was the biggest public works project in the city's history and included the buying of an island on the Platte River north of Interstate 80 and sinking a pair of horizontal wells capable of pumping as much as 35 million gallons of water per day. Lincoln constructed a bridge to the island to keep up the huge wells and buried vast water mains under the river to transport the water. In addition, it erected a sophisticated water treatment facility and made upgrades to current wellfields and pipelines. In late January of this year, Lincoln officials received word of a proposal to dam the river between Lincoln and Omaha and submerge everything they have constructed under a lake larger than Lake McConaughy. State Sen. Pam Brown (Omaha) , who introduced legislation to allows a $3 million feasibility study of the matter, claims the lake would draw business and create jobs and recreational activities for individuals who reside in and around Lincoln and Omaha. The drawback, however, is that the 25-mile lake with 145 miles of shoreline would flood the town of Ashland and surrounding houses, farms, gravel mining establishments, and roads, as well as Lincoln's wellfields, which supply around 90 percent of the city's drinking water and comprise a $1 billion investment. Assistant Lincoln City Attorney Steve Huggenberger predicts that replacing the wellfields could cost an additional $1 billion, depending on what regions were flooded by the dam; a new water source along the Platte River would also have to be located.
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Traces of Prescription Drugs Found in Southland Aquifers
Los Angeles Times (01/30/06) ; Cone, Maria

Los Angeles County officials claim they have found traces of prescription drugs in the county's drinking water, which is stored beneath San Gabriel Valley. As new technology allows detection of very small chemical doses in the environment, Southern California water-quality authorities have discovered that a bevy of strong pharmaceuticals are bucking even the most innovative sewage treatments in place. While the drug traces are so small that scientists believe there is little or nor human risk, they concede that nobody knows the impacts of consuming the remnants of multiple pharmaceuticals during a lifetime. To date, concerns have primarily focused on the ecological risk. Biologists studying frogs on Prozac, insects given anti-seizure drugs, algae terminated by antibiotics, and fish feminized by birth-control pills have found that certain streams have drugs and synthetic estrogen at levels dangerous to aquatic life.
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World Economic Forum: Alternative Approaches to Water Management
Inter Press Service (01/29/06)

The grassroots water management plans now being installed in certain parts of Bolivia are founded on the idea of water as a public item, to which everybody has a right, as instructed by the nation's indigenous people, claims activist Tania Quiroz. The problems of the lack of clean water and water distribution and ownership systems were talked about this week at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and at a conference held in Zurich by the Association for the Taxation of Financial Transactions for the Aid of Citizens' Swiss affiliate. At the Zurich conference, Quiroz said private firms in Bolivia had increased water rates by as much as 300 percent, placing services out of reach of the poor. The Davos forum talked about how the growth of the global population and worldwide production is increasing the pressure on water, which is becoming scarce in numerous parts of the world. Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation director-general Walter Fust stated that privatization is not the solution to making water accessible to the poor, and noted that the water provision must be done with efficiency and with the greatest possible distribution at the lowest possible fee. Fust's office is pushing a water management system founded on public and private partnership.
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Strapped Pacific Lumber Plans to Sell 60,000 Acres
Los Angeles Times (02/11/06) ; Reiterman, Tim

Pacific Lumber, a major player among redwood lumber producers, plans to divest more than 25 percent of its 220,000-acre holdings in California's Humboldt County as part of its strategy to generate cash flow. A potential bankruptcy filing by the company has loomed for more than 12 months. Industry analysts are urging the company' parent, Maxxam, to restructure Pacific Lumber. The company has struggled under heavy long-term debt, and Pacific Lumber officials acknowledged that timber-cutting operations have not produced a profit. Company officials have complained about the impact of permit difficulties and requirements imposed by state water agencies on its timber operations. A bidder for the land could emerge from the timber industry or from conservation groups.
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Workers Allege Halliburton Knew Their Water Was Foul
Washington Post (01/23/06) P. A2 ; Margasak, Larry

Halliburton documents revealed that workers from the firm could not get their company to inform residents and troops on a U.S. military base in Iraq about contaminated water in 2005. The firm has since disputed the allegations regarding water contamination at Camp Junction City, Ramadi, though company documentation and employee emails suggest otherwise. U.S. senators are investigating the allegations, which point out that water was two-times the normal contamination level of untreated water from the Euphrates River. While bottled water was available, residents and troops at the camp used the contaminated water for hand washing, laundry, bathing, and making coffee. Those ingesting the contaminated water complained of diarrhea and stomach cramps, but Halliburton insisted its review of the situation did not provide medical evidence to support those claims.
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Our Say: Legislators Shouldn't Dilute Flush Fee
Annapolis Capital (MD) (02/10/06)

Some lawmakers in Maryland are attempting to partially repeal a $30-a-household annual fee which pays for sewage plant upgrades and repairs to septic systems. The move, opposed by the editorial staff of the Annapolis Capital, would cost the state $12 million at a time when the proposed federal budget for fiscal 2007 calls for a cut in federal spending on sewage plant upgrades. The lawmakers attempting to revise the measure are hoping to link the fee to actual septic tank use but fail to take into account, say the authors of this article, that failing septic tanks impact everyone in the region through runoff into the Chesapeake Bay.
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Tapping Into Lake Michigan
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (02/01/06)

A recent survey by the Public Policy Forum showed that residents of southeastern Wisconsin viewed water as a regional resource and a regional issue that must be addressed through regional collaboration. As water comes from ever-deepening underground supplies, the need for more reliable sources has become an important topic of debate. Deeper water also raises the specter of greater radium concentrations. In view of the related cancer risks, state authorities have set strict, perhaps too strict, according to the author(s) of this editorial piece, standards of radium concentrations in water supplies. Area communities facing water shortages are hoping the Great Lakes will provide the answer. But one problem with this solution is that the region stands just outside the Great Lakes natural basin. Under a new international agreement, siphoning by non-basin states will require a consensus from states and Canadian provinces bordering the basin.
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Toss Out the New Orleans 'Toxic Soup' Myth
Enter Stage Right (02/06/06) ; Fumento, Michael

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, it was common for media reports to make reference to a "toxic soup" covering parts of Louisiana, containing some combination of fecal coliform, industrial chemicals, heavy metals, and petroleum byproducts. Contamination was partly a result of damage to sewage plants. However, despite the implied horror behind the word "toxic," Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality secretary Mike D. McDaniel notes that the toxins would have to be ingested in large quantities to cause harm. He also says that the reported amounts of the contaminants and the dangers posed from them were grossly exaggerated, with a study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology saying that the floodwaters in New Orleans were "typical of storm water runoff in the region." McDaniel is attempting to put a stop to the talk of "toxic soup" by asking newspapers that the term, as well as similar terms, be removed from their lexicon. McDaniel criticizes "alarmists" for incorrectly warning of the dangers of pumping flood waters into Lake Pontchartrain. Environmental Science and Technology had said that the chief potential hazard was to fish, but there has not been any evidence of fish kills in Lake Pontchartrain, and McDaniel points to sampling by state and federal agencies indicating that the seafood from the lake, estuaries, and nearby coasts is safe to consume. There is also little evidence of elevated petroleum contaminants, toxic sediments, or "toxic dust," McDaniel says.
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Governor's Water Plans Raise Concerns
Monterey County Herald (CA) (02/12/06) ; Lawrence, Steve

Environmentalists are wary of Arnold Schwarzenegger's huge public works plan that includes a $1.25 billion bond proposal to fund one of five water storage projects being considered by the California Bay-Delta Authority, a group of 25 state and federal agencies that oversees efforts to improve and expand California's water supplies. The proposals include the building of a reservoir in the Antelope Valley to hold 1.8 million care-feet of water, a reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River, raising Shasta Dam from six to 18.5 feet, turning islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta into reservoirs, and expanding the Contra Costa Water District Los Vaqueros Reservoir. Proponents of the effort say it is needed to support California's growing population. Opponents fear diversion of water needed to maintain salmon runs and riparian habitat and the flooding of grasslands and woodlands hosting threatened and endangered species.
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CA: The California Water Plan Update is Now Available
Waterchat.com (02/02/06) ; Snow, Lester A.

Announcing the availability of the California Water Plan Update 2005, California Department of Water Resources director Lester A. Snow said that it "is not just another update" but that it "represents a fundamental transition in how we look at water resource management in California." According to Snow, "We need to consider a broader range of resource management issues, competing water demands, new approaches to water supply reliability, and new ways of financing." The 2005 update "identifies pressing needs and includes a strategic plan with goals, policy recommendations, and actions to ensure sustainable water uses and reliable water supplies in the face of uncertainty and change," Snow said. In addition, the plan includes collaborative approaches and management strategies for protecting water quality and the environment while boosting water supply and using water efficiently. The new plan also embodies a transition in the state government's interactions with local entities and interest groups, Snow said, commenting that "integrated regional water management is the future for California because it will help regions diversify their water portfolio strategies and get the most from local, state, and federal resources and funding." There will still be a key role for statewide water-management systems, but integrated regional water management will help regions become more self-sufficient and allow them to implement actions that have multiple benefits. Meanwhile, to provide more reliable and stable water-related funding sources for California communities, the department "will continue to support general obligation bonds and non-general fund revenue sources to carry out long-term improvements in statewide water management systems while providing all customers with reliable water supplies," Snow said.
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Progress On Way in Restoring Bay?
Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star (VA) (02/02/06) ; Dennen, Rusty

Among the key legislative initiatives making their way through the Virginia assembly this year are several measures for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The assembly put $50 million toward upgrades of sewage treatment plants and other items aimed at improving water-quality last year, and lawmakers pledged to come back to the issue during this session and seek a permanent revenue source. Outgoing Gov. Mark Warner (D) earmarked $200 million for that purpose in his last budget proposal in December, and House Republicans said in January that they would put that amount of money into next year's spending plan. "This is something a lot of people care about," said John Tippett, executive director of Friends of the Rappahannock, adding, "The legislators are starting to realize it's time to pay back for all the years of neglect." The Rappahannock River, one of the Chesapeake's tributaries, has had chronic chemical and silt runoff problems. A bill from Sen. Emmett Hanger provides for $100 million in real-estate recordation taxes per year for the water Improvement Fund, while Sen. Frederick M. Quayle has proposed a $1-a-day lodging fee and $40 million from recordation taxes. A bill from Del. L. Scott Lingamfelter would establish the Virginia Chesapeake Bay Clean-Up Authority. Events in the past year, such as growing dead zones, algal blooms, and dead fish in the Shenandoah River, have focused attention on the Chesapeake's troubles, according to Chesapeake Bay Foundation spokesman Chuck Epes.
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Lawsuit Has State Scrambling to Meet Clean Water Act
Timberjay (MN) (01/30/06) ; Helmberger, Marshall

Dozens of development projects around Minnesota have been held up by a lawsuit over the state's failure to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, and an unusual coalition of interests are pressing state lawmakers to take aim at the issue this year. The coalition, which includes not just environmental organizations but also such diverse interests as the state Chamber of Commerce, the League of Minnesota Cities, and the Farm Bureau, wants lawmakers to fund the Clean Water Legacy Act, which is intended to give a jump start to Minnesota's efforts to comply with the federal law. The Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy forced the issue in 2005 when it filed the lawsuit to block the cities of Annadale and Maple Lake from building sewage treatment plants. The center's attorneys argued that federal law would not allow the cities to increase their pollution outflow without creating a plan for cleaning up the local watershed. Two courts have already agreed with the center's argument, and the state is now taking the case before the Minnesota Supreme Court; however, lawmakers, officials, and others say that Minnesota needs to do more to clean up the water in the state no matter how the state supreme court rules. Last year, the coalition backed an earmarked fee for funding water cleanup -- an idea that critics referred to as a "flush tax" -- but this idea has been abandoned in favor of a general fund appropriation. What the coalition is now seeking is $40 million in the first year, followed by $80 million a year after that.
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Lawyer: Water Tank Dispute Is Not Misuse of Eminent Domain
Register-Herald (01/26/06) ; Pace, Fred

A water fight is revolving around West Virginia's Eastern Wyoming County Public Service District's proposal to build a $14.7 million public water system in four towns and adjacent areas. Land owners that could lose property have charged the district of abusing powerful domain authorities. The family member of one land owner also contended that the district was not answering Freedom of Information Act requests for information concerning surveys performed on proposed sites. The district has petitioned Wyoming County Circuit Court for right of entry to three pieces of land owned by the owners; the owners had apparently arrived at an agreement several months ago, providing engineers with the right to survey proposed sites for the water tank and tower. Rick Staton, an attorney representing the district, argues that the land is needed for a public purpose, which is offering water to an unserved region inhabited by many families. He pointed out his court motion in late January was to clarify the district's duties to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests versus its responsibilities to offer information to and through attorneys in an upcoming litigation.
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