State Water Resources Control Board Proposes Hexavalent Chromium Limit Five Hundred Times Higher than the Public Health Goal
March 21, 2022
Contact:
Pedro Calderón, Community Water Center, (720) 838-1401, pedro.calderon@communitywatercenter.org
Andria Ventura, Clean Water Action, (669) 234-3420, aventura@cleanwateraction.org
Lesly Figueroa, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, lfigueroa@leadershipcounsel.org
State Water Resources Control Board Proposes Hexavalent Chromium Limit Five Hundred Times Higher than the Public Health Goal
Limit Must Be Strengthened And Quickly Adopted
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Yesterday, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) released an administrative draft of a drinking water limit for hexavalent chromium (aka Chrom 6) of 10 μg/L. This is five hundred times higher than the public health goal of 0.02 μg/L set by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) in 2011. It has taken five years for the State Board to come to the same conclusion as it had years before, despite advances in treatment technology and historic levels of funding for drinking water solutions, and all while communities bore the risk of unsafe drinking water.
Hexavalent chromium is a cancer-causing heavy metal that has been detected in water samples in 53 of 58 California counties. This contaminant can occur naturally in the environment or as an industrial by-product, presenting a widespread public health challenge to families across the state.
“Water systems have had over twenty years to invest in appropriate treatment while communities have faced tragedy and the health cost burdens because of this chemical,” says Erin Brockvich, renowned Consumer Advocate, Environmental Activist, and Founder of the Erin Brockovich Foundation. “That makes it all the more disgraceful that the State Water Board is proposing a drinking water standard that will not protect the California public. This is nothing more than regulatory lip service.”
“This standard will not only fail to truly protect impacted communities, it will allow much of the affected water to remain untreated. It is so disappointing that a 20 year regulatory process led to this proposal. After all, cancer is costly and tragic “ says Andria Ventura, California Legislative and Policy Director at Clean Water Action.
A robust, peer-reviewed scientific analysis by the state OEHHA found that long-term exposure to hexavalent chromium in drinking water can lead to stomach and gastrointestinal cancer, reproductive effects, and damage to liver and kidneys. Consequently, the chemical’s presence prevents affected households from using their tap water for drinking and cooking. If the proposed higher limit is adopted, the State Board will leave dangerous amounts of this contaminant present in water supplies and allow some water systems to forgo treatment altogether. Small, rural, communities of color will continue to bear the brunt of exposure with limited resources for replacement water and medical bills.
“At five hundred times the public health goal, the proposed standard is just not strong enough to communities we work alongside,” says Michael Claiborne, Directing Attorney for Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. “After years of delay, the State Board must act quickly to both strengthen the standard and move to adoption and implementation. Failing to do so will disproportionately harm low-income communities of color.”
The State Board must immediately strengthen the proposed limit to ensure that it is health-protective by bringing it closer to the public health goal for Hexavalent Chromium.
“Families across California have waited far too long to be provided with an MCL that won’t fully protect them,” says Kyle Jones, Policy and Legal Director at Community Water Center. “Given the once-in-a-generation level of investment from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the State Water Board must do better to protect those who have been routinely exposed to a cancer-causing chemical for decades.”
Chromium-6 currently exists in drinking water at Ohlone Elementary & Renaissance High School (Monterey and Santa Cruz County area schools) where levels of Chromium-6 were found at and above the former MCL, or legal limit, of 10 μg/L.
Advocates linked to both schools are available for interviews.
Chris Webb, current teacher at Renaissance High School
Krishna Feldman, current employee at Ohlone Elementary
Eufemia Hernandez, parent with students at Ohlone Elementary
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Clean Water Action is a national nonprofit founded in 1972 to promote citizen engagement and action to protect our environment, health, economic well-being and community quality of life. Clean Water Action organizes strong grassroots groups, coalitions and campaigns to solve environmental and community problems. For more information, visit our website at www.cleanwater.org or follow us on Twitter @cleanh2oca.
Community Water Center (CWC) works to ensure that all communities have reliable access to safe, clean, and affordable water. Founded in 2006, CWC is a not-for-profit environmental justice organization, whose mission is to act as a catalyst for community-driven water solutions through education, organizing, and advocacy. Web: www.communitywatercenter.org Twitter: @CWaterC Facebook: @CommunityWaterCenter
The Erin Brockovich Foundation is a nonprofit organization created to educate and empower communities in their fight for clean water.
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability works alongside the most impacted communities to advocate for sound policy and eradicate injustice to secure equal access to opportunity regardless of wealth, race, income and place. We work with community leaders throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Eastern Coachella Valley on such issues as safe affordable drinking water, basic transit services, wastewater services, decent affordable housing, and the right to live free from industrial pollution with infrastructure that supports healthy lifestyles. Through co-powerment, organizing, litigation, policy advocacy, and research, we confront California's stark inequalities manifest in too many of California's low income communities and communities of color. Twitter: LCJandA FB: @lcjacalifornia IG: @leadership_counsel Web: leadershipcounsel.org
