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Posted on 10/06/2002 3:01:18 PM PDT by loulou
A chemical used in rocket fuel, fireworks and some fertilizers found in West Texas water should not affect Odessa city residents.
Texas Tech University researchers have detected the chemical perchlorate in water wells of nine West Texas counties, and environmental investigators are trying to figure out how it got there.
However, Odessa City Utilities Director Debbie McReynolds said the city uses very few wells in Ector County.
“We get most of our water from Lake Ivy and Lake Spence or Thomas,” McReynolds said. “In the summertime, we also get a little bit of water from wells in Ward County.” Texas Tech environmental engineers began studying the water after the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality in April found perchlorate in Levelland and Midland.
It was the first time the chemical had been found in public drinking water in Texas.
Water samples with perchlorate were found in Ector, Midland, Hockley, Gaines, Dawson, Glasscock, Martin, Andrews and Howard counties, according to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
McReynolds said whatever water from Ector County wells used for city water is thoroughly treated before use. “Most well water does not need to be treated, just sterilized,” McReynolds said. “Water from Ector County wells is pumped into the reservoir and treated with the surface water.”
The city quits using well water after summertime peak usage ends, therefore, she said, Odessans should not have to worry about perchlorate findings in the wells. “We supplement the surface water during the summer when people are washing their cars, watering their lawns and really using the water,” McReynolds said. “In the winter months, usage drastically drops.”
Andrew Jackson, a Texas Tech environmental engineer, said samples were taken from 80 percent of public water source wells in the nine counties.
“Those nine counties surround the original detection,” he said. “What we’re trying to find out is if this is a localized point source problem or a regional problem, a much broader-type problem which probably can’t be traced to one particular source.”
Full results of the Tech study haven’t been released yet. The state considers a level of four parts per billion of perchlorate to be cause for investigation. The research team found levels as high as 20 parts per billion, Jackson said.
Jackson said residents might not be adversely affected. Many communities mix water from multiple wells or surface water, so the perchlorate level is usually diluted by the time it is piped into homes, he said.
In April, five active wells were shut off from Levelland’s water supply because tests revealed a perchlorate level of 32 ppb.
Near Midland, samples from the McMillen well field tested at 10 ppb.
Those samples were part of an Environmental Protection Agency survey on drinking water to determine if perchlorate should be regulated in drinking water.
According to the EPA, perchlorate may be associated with lower IQ and developmental delays in children and infants. It also has been shown to cause thyroid and metabolic problems. Researchers are working to find the level of perchlorate that causes adverse effects on humans.
The state commission traced the Levelland contagion to a water tower. The state has speculated that a lightning strike to the tower may have caused perchlorate to form. Jackson says that theory is “our front-runner right now, but we have not nailed that down yet.”
Jackson’s team and the state are tracing common denominators such as geography, soil and land use to track the source. Possible culprits include certain agricultural fertilizers and the military, he said.
OA staff writer David J. Lee and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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