Posted on 09/29/2017 8:07:58 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Water safety inspectors visiting Camp Pendleton over several days in late June uncovered rats rotting on a reservoir gate, a desiccated frog clinging to a reservoir ladder and a rodent carcass floating in treated water.
They also interviewed base workers listed on paper as water treatment supervisors who didn’t know they were supervisors.
On Thursday, the Marines and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency entered into a consent decree designed to force the base to follow federal clean water regulations.
...
EPA officials told the San Diego Union-Tribune that after the Marines failed the June inspections, workers removed all animal remains from the system, cleaned the reservoirs, began routine testing of the water for Coliform bacteria and chlorine levels and pledged to keep surveying water quality to ensure it was safe to drink.
...
The state and federal investigators, however, found “significant deficiencies” at both systems that comprise the base’s total treatment program, including a failure to inspect and maintain equipment, which led to foundational cracks and inadequate seals in the reservoirs. Problems with animal remains in the reservoirs dated to 2015, according to the reports.
Some reservoirs on base had not been cleaned since 2009, nearly three times as long as they should have gone without a proper scrubbing. The reservoir with rodents rotting on a mesh grate had not been cleaned within the last three years, a violation of the base’s own standard operating procedures.
One reservoir — an elevated tank — was in such “poor condition” that workers feared an inspection might not even be feasible.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I’m wondering if the base personnel are the ones that take care of these things, or if it’s contracted out.
When I lived at Camp Pendleton as a child in the early 60’s it was always a dump. I remember huge cockroaches running along the walls of my bedroom.
I’d be shocked if it wasn’t contracted out.
Whose trying to kill Marines in this country? No inspection since BO became president?
Who’s
I’d be shocked if they called up some of the Navy’s HT guys to come take care of it.
We affectionately called them, “Turdchasers,” on my ship.
Why does a local reservoir fall under EPA jurisdiction? Is EPA inspecting every small reservoir and tank in the entire US? Don't county health departments do this?
That aside, at least this seems like something useful for the EPA to do rather than 90% of their crap.
Lastly, I'm no expert on water supplies, but I think animals drink water and amphibians live in water. Is it any surprise to find them near or in water? Do we expect all reservoirs and tanks to be completely free of all wildlife? How do you prevent wildlife from dying in your reservoirs and tanks? Shouldn't filters and chemical treatments easily deal with this? FR Water Experts chime in!
What about the three foot cockroach the OOD had to shoot at the Geiger chow hall. It is stuffed and on display at HQ mainside if you want to see it.
Nearly everything is contract now.
Last time I was on a military base, I saw exactly zero military personnel doing any maintenance, ore even manning the front gate.
That really needs to change, and the military needs to take back dire3ct control of their property and assets, not just supervise the contraction out of all of it.
On board ship, don’t they carry some contractors there as well? I haven’t had the pleasure of being on a gray boat since the mid 80s.
I wondered that myself. My guess is that the only agency with authority to inspect the military water supply is the EPA. Get NCIS!
In the mid 90’s, we only had contractors working on my ship when we were in port. Large scale stuff like rebuilding bulkheads and upgrades. They were done and gone by the time we went underway.
What’s that rat doing in my water tank??
Looks like the backstroke, sir.
If a water source serves more than x number of households, it falls under the EPA. (If memory serves, been a long time since I took that class)
I am a civilian employee working on a military base. The Army in particular hires civilians or contracts out as much work as possible for a very specific reason. Their numbers are limited by congress, if they can hire a civilian to do a non-combat job, that lets them fill that slot with a rifle rather than a broom.
...ping....
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