November 24, 2002

(MIKE MULLEN)  Water solution sought JPL, PWP work on plan to clean up perchlorate By Lisa Faught , Staff Writer LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE -- A chemical used to make rocket fuel has seeped into the groundwater, triggering the closures of more than half of the water wells in Pasadena over the last year. Since the start of the year, Pasadena Water and Power has kept nine of its 15 water wells out of service because they tested too high for the chemical perchlorate, said Shan Kwan, business director for PWP's water division. The nine wells are concentrated on the west side of the city four near the Jet Propulsion Laboratory bordering Pasadena, three near the city yard and two near Villa Park. Officials at PWP and JPL have been monitoring the perchlorate contamination for several years, but stricter guidelines set by the state Department of Health Services in January prompted the closures. The state scaled back its public health guidelines for perchlorate levels in the water from 18 parts per billion to just 4 . The perchlorate levels in each of the nine wells vary, but all exceed the 4 parts per billion guideline, Kwan said. One well, closed in 1997, had perchlorate levels as high as 150 ppb. Although the 4 ppb guideline requires the water agency only to notify the public about traces of the chemical, not to shut down the well, PWP decided to play safe, Kwan said. "We decided to be extra cautious and not serve that water,' Kwan said. "Also, if there's a spike in contamination, we just wanted to be extra safe.' However, perchlorate is not yet a regulated chemical, pending a review by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA is now working to decide how much perchlorate can be left in the water without posing a health risk. In high doses, the chemical can block iodine to the thyroid, which could affect its ability to produce hormones a danger to pregnant women and their babies. But the same chemical is also used to treat patients for Grave's Disease, caused by an overactive thyroid gland.   Chemical stew   Back when the scientists at JPL first started pushing the boundaries of space exploration in the 1940s, the standard practice was to pour toxic chemicals down the drain. The stew of chemicals would collect in pits, where they would seep slowly into the soil. Although the seepage pits were later replaced with a sewer system, the damage was done. In 1990, an investigation found high concentrations of four volatile organic compounds in the soil, exceeding safe drinking water standards. Two years later, JPL was declared a Superfund site, requiring it to clean up the compounds, an effort now under way. Perchlorate is the latest chemical to be added to the list. In 1997, the Department of Health Services developed a new procedure to detect minute traces of perchlorate in the water, as little as 4 parts per billion. Before, water tests could detect perchlorate only at levels higher than 400 parts per billion. Since then, perchlorate contamination has surfaced in more than 280 drinking water sources in Southern California, 128 of them in Los Angeles County. "There are literally thousands of potential contaminants that we test for,' said Ron Palmer, executive officer of the Raymond Basin Management Board. "Some of them we didn't even know existed five to 10 years ago. It can be very difficult and expensive to treat.' Cleanup costs Now officials at JPL and PWP are trying to work out a financial agreement for cleaning up the perchlorate contamination at the four wells near JPL. The remaining five wells are still on hold, as they try to figure out if JPL or another source contaminated the wells. Once the agreement is hammered out, the plan is to build a $30 million plant near JPL to clean up the perchlorate. The water would first be treated at the Devil's Gate treatment plant, then piped to the new plant, which would clean the water of perchlorate through an ion exchange technology similar to how a water softener works. Until then, PWP is buying more imported water from Metropolitan Water District and pumping more groundwater from six wells on the east side of town, which have been untouched by the chemical plume. The city has the right to pump about 12,800 acre-feet per year. "We have to pump constantly just to meet out (water) rights,' Kwan said. "If one of the wells breaks down, then it will be hard to pump our full year's rights.' New technology Even as the EPA is debating a safe standard for perchlorate in the water, JPL is trying out new technology to clean up the water. In a back lot at JPL, a crew of engineers is drilling 200 feet into the ground in search of perchlorate. Over the next month, the crew will drill four new water wells, 4 inches in diameter the first step in an experiment to clean up the chemical. Once the wells are complete, the crew will pump corn syrup into the ground to activate organisms sleeping below. The organisms will eat the chemical and convert it into carbon dioxide and water, said Peter Robles Jr., health and safety manager for NASA. Testing new technology is one way NASA is trying to stay abreast of the rapid changes in water quality standards, he said. "It's a major struggle to protect public health and also not shut off their water. Sometimes they go overboard, sometimes they don't go overboard enough,' Robles said. "We're not waiting for someone to decide what's safe, we want to do the clean- up now.' -- Lisa Faught can be reached at (626) 578-6300, Ext. 4496, or by e-mail at lisa.faught@sgvn.com.