The following is a transcript of the Feb. 20, 2012, edition of the WaterWorld Weekly Newscast.
Hi, I'm Angela Godwin, digital media editor for WaterWorld magazine, bringing you this week's water and wastewater news headlines. Coming up...
• Numeric water quality criteria dispute settled in Florida
• Radium risk highest in central, eastern U.S.
• Bromide levels in PA waters still high despite drillers efforts
• Texas town considers treating wastewater for drinking
• Financial impact of Gulf oil spill to top $8B
• Fish farm waste taints southern China water supplies
[story1]
A federal judge in Florida has ruled in favor of upholding pollution limits set by EPA in 2009 and said they must take effect March 6.
In 2008, environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit against EPA for failing to require Florida to adopt numeric nutrient limits. EPA subsequently drafted its own set of rules for Florida in 2009.
Florida DEP later developed its own set of rules, similar to EPA's but with one notable exception: the state rules require a study to determine whether nutrients are causing harm in a particular waterbody before action can be taken.
With his ruling, U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle ends years of delay in establishing numeric water quality criteria for Florida waters.
[story2]
A groundwater study conducted by USGS has found a correlation between radium contamination and low oxygen or low pH.
Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element and known carcinogen generally present at low levels in all soil, water, and rocks. But the study found that radium is more likely to dissolve and become present in groundwater if it has low oxygen or low pH.
Researchers identified two aquifer systems that are particularly susceptible to radium: one is a central-US system underlying parts of Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri and Wisconsin; and the other is an east coast aquifer system underlying parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, and Virginia.
In these systems, more than one in five wells had radium concentrations that equaled or exceeded federal drinking water standards.
Because it's odorless and tasteless, radium has historically been a difficult contaminant to detect. The scientists say the new data will enable simpler tests to determine which groundwater sources are at risk and why.
[story3]
According to Associated Press analysis of Pennsylvania state data, Marcellus Shale drilling companies are, for the most part, complying with the state's May 2011 request to stop sending drilling wastewater to municipal wastewater treatment plants.
In the last half of 2011, Marcellus Shale drillers sent about 97% of their fracking wastewater to be recycled, deep-injected, or treated by plants that don't discharge into waterways.
The data has AP wondering why local waterways still show high levels of bromide -- which can produce trihalomethanes when combined with chlorine during the treatment of drinking water.
Part of the explanation could be a loophole in the disposal regulations, which applied ONLY to Marcellus wells.
AP found that, in the last half of 2011, a significant amount of drilling wastewater -- about 78 million gallons -- was still being sent to treatment plants by thousands of other, non-Marcellus oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania.
The analysis suggests that Marcellus drillers were only part of the bromide problem and that other sources -- such as coal-fired power plants and other industries -- could also be significant contributors.
[story4]
A drought-stricken Texas community will take a serious look at using treated wastewater to augment drinking water supplies.
The Coleman, Texas, City Council approved a plan to move forward with a feasibility study as it faces the possibility of moving to Phase IV of the drought contingency plan if this spring doesn't bring rain.
The study, which will be funded by the Texas Water Development Board, is expected to cost about $15,000. It will be conducted by the engineering firm Jacob & Martin.
[story5]
A new study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences predicts that over seven years, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill could have an $8.7 billion dollar impact on the Gulf of Mexico economy.
In addition to the obvious and visible effects of the April 2010 oil spill on birds and mammals, unseen impacts -- like hydrocarbons being taken up by plankton -- could disrupt aquatic food chains, which in turn could affect the fishing industry.
The $8.7 billion figure includes losses in revenue, profit, and wages, and close to 22,000 jobs.
[story6]
In international news...
Fifty thousand residents of Foshan City in southern China found themselves temporarily without water after a local fish farm discharged wastewater into a drinking water stream there.
Authorities immediately stopped taking water from the stream and initiated an investigation.
This is the latest in a string of recent water quality issues in China. In mid-January, cadmium levels in the Longjiang River were 8 times the official limit, most likely caused by disposal of metal processing waste. And phenol, spilled when a chemicals barge sank in the Yangtze River, caused foul smelling tap water in Zhenjiang.
China, where 300 million people lack access to clean water, recently announced plans to spend some $286 million over the next three years to monitor water pollution. It's part of a larger, $634 billion plan announced in 2011 to improve water management over the next 10 years.
For WaterWorld magazine, I'm Angela Godwin. Thanks for watching.
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