WaterBriefs: No reproductive risk notice under new DBP rule - AWWA

Jan. 17, 2006
Also in this report: Spartan Environmental appoints Premier Water as Carolinas rep; UC Irvine offers CEQA course; Revett Minerals details mine water treatment efforts; 35 state attorneys general join fight to protect CWA jurisdiction; HMM's Hedli gets ACI committee chair; Hach hires flow, sampling key account manager; Cytec Specialty Chemicals leadership team named; Jury awards $30M to workers in Carson roof collapse; Public invited to Salton Sea ecosystem restoration meetings...

In other news below:
-- Spartan Environmental appoints Premier Water as municipal rep for Carolinas
-- UC Irvine Extension Office offers introduction to CEQA course
-- Dr. Roger Tsien to deliver plenary lecture at Pittcon 2006
-- Clearford Industries files statement on its acquisition of Brooklin Concrete
-- Revett Minerals details Rock Creek Mine water treatment efforts
-- 35 state attorneys general join fight to protect CWA jurisdiction
-- HMM's Hedli reappointed to ACI Committee Chair
-- Hach hires new flow, sampling key account manager
-- Leadership team named for Cytec Specialty Chemicals
-- Jury awards $30M to construction workers in Carson roof collapse
-- Public invited to Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program meetings

No reproductive risk notice under new DBP rule
DENVER, Jan. 16, 2006 -- U.S. water suppliers that exceed disinfection by-products (DBPs) standards under USEPA's newly promulgated Stage 2 Disinfection By-products (DBPs) rule will not be required to include any information about potential reproductive and developmental health effects in public notices, according to the Jan. 16 issue of the American Water Works Association publication WaterWeek.

As detailed in the Stage 2 DBP Rule, published Jan. 4 and effective March 6, the agency opted not to revise current public notice requirements after finding that "current reproductive and developmental health effects data do not support a conclusion at this time as to whether exposure to chlorinated drinking water or disinfection byproducts causes adverse developmental or reproductive health effects, but do support a potential health concern."

Calling such public notice "an important issue" because an estimated 58 million women of child-bearing age are exposed to DBPs, USEPA said it "plans to reconsider whether to include this information in the future" and "to support research to assess communication strategies on how to best provide this information."

The standard health effects language required in public notices of exceedances of current standards for total trihalomethanes (TTHMs) and five haloacetic acids (HAA5) only address potential cancer effects. The standards remain the same under the new rule, which requires utilities to comply with them by 2012 at various high-risk sites throughout the distribution system on a locational running annual average basis rather than the current system-wide running annual average basis.

In promulgating the rule, USEPA declared that it "believes that exposure to chlorinated drinking water may be associated with cancer, reproductive and developmental health risks" and that the rule "will provide for increased protection against" such potential risks by reducing peak and average levels of DBPs.

The agency's review of extensive new research on both cancer and reproductive and developmental risks, described in detail in the rule's preamble, notes that, "Some recent studies on both human epidemiology and animal toxicology have shown possible associations between chlorinated drinking water and reproductive and developmental endpoints such as spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, neural tube and other birth defects, intrauterine growth retardation, and low birth weight."

USEPA found that while the overall weight of evidence failed to establish a dose-response or causal link between DBP exposure and adverse reproductive or developmental health effects, the data do support "a potential health concern that warrants incremental regulatory action beyond the Stage 1 DBP [rule]."

Regarding cancer risks, USEPA found that "new cancer data since Stage 1 strengthen the evidence of a potential association of chlorinated water with bladder cancer and suggests an association for colon and rectal cancers."

Potential cancer risks associated with three individual trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids led USEPA to finalize maximum contaminant level goals (MCLG) for them under the Stage 2 DBP rule. USEPA set MCLGs of 0.07 mg/L for both chloroform and monochloracetic acid and 0.02 mg/L for trichloroacetic acid.

The nonzero MCLGs recognize safe exposure levels for each DBP but do not affect the final enforceable standards for TTHMs of 0.080 mg/L and for HAA5 of 0.060 mg/L.

USEPA training on the Stage 2 DBP and companion Long-Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule kicked off this month with in-person sessions for states, utilities and technical assistance providers every week at locations across the country and four nationwide webcasts in January. AWWA also continues to update its compliance assistance resources for the twin rules and has scheduled three webcasts.

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Among other recent headlines:

Spartan Environmental appoints Premier Water as municipal representative for Carolinas -- MENTOR, OH, Jan. 16, 2006 -- Spartan Environmental Technologies, a distributor and manufacturer of chemical oxidation and disinfection equipment, has appointed Premier Water of Charlotte, NC, as its exclusive municipal representative for North and South Carolina. Spartan's product line includes a full range of ozone generators, odor control systems and a proprietary electrolytic system for the removal of organics from water. These systems treat air and water from municipal, commercial and industrial facilities...

UC Irvine Extension Office offers introduction to California Environmental Quality Act course -- Seminar designed for professionals and members of public agencies interested in environmental planning -- IRVINE, CA, Jan. 16, 2006 -- UC Irvine Extension announces a new seminar, Introduction to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The seminar is designed for professionals and members of public agencies, along with interested members of the public who seek a comprehensive overview of environmental planning and CEQA in California. The day-long class will be held on Thursday, February 9th, 2006 at the UCI Learning Center in Orange, CA, 9:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m...

Dr. Roger Tsien to deliver plenary lecture at Pittcon 2006 -- Presentation highlights first-ever Pittcon Sunday Technical Program -- PITTSBURGH, Jan. 16, 2006 -- Pittcon (The Pittsburgh Conference on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy) announced today that Dr. Roger Tsien will deliver a plenary lecture entitled "Watching Biochemistry Inside Living Cells and Organisms" at Pittcon 2006, March 12-17, in Orlando, FL. Dr. Tsien is an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Professor in the Departments of Pharmacology and of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego. He is best known for designing and building molecules that either report or perturb signal transduction inside living cells. The lecture will be held at 4:30 pm on March 12 during the first ever Pittcon Sunday Technical Program...

Clearford Industries Inc. files statement regarding its acquisition of Brooklin Concrete -- OTTAWA, Canada, Jan. 16, 2006 -- Clearford Industries Inc. -- which designs and implements wastewater management systems utilizing the SBS™ patented solid and liquid waste collection systems -- has filed its Filing Statement respecting its previously announced acquisition of Brooklin Concrete Inc. from Return on Innovation Fund Inc. ("ROI Fund" or the "Fund"), its private placement of secured convertible debentures, and the amendment of its strategic leadership agreement with SC Stormont Inc. Clearford expects to close the transaction by the end of January...

Revett Minerals Rock Creek Mine details water treatment efforts -- SPOKANE, WA, Jan. 16, 2006 -- In July 2005, Revett Minerals Inc. began the planning and implementation of an aggressive public information program to educate local, regional and national stakeholders and to correct public misconceptions and explain the economic benefits and environmental safeguards of the mine. This educational campaign was necessary because of misinformation about the mine disseminated over the years by anti-development organizations...

Mich. Attorney General expands fight to protect Michigan waters -- Effort to protect jurisdiction under Clean Water Act gets bipartisan support from former EPA administrators -- LANSING, MI, Jan. 13, 2006 -- Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox announced today he has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to preserve long-standing protections provided to Michigan waters by the federal Clean Water Act. Cox has joined 34 other states and the District of Columbia arguing for continuing protection under the Clean Water Act for the nation's water resources, including wetlands and waterways. Cox's brief supports the federal government's arguments that Congress intended the Clean Water Act to cover wetlands adjacent to tributaries...

HMM's Hedli reappointed to chair for ACI Committee 121 -- MILLBURN, NJ, Jan. 13, 2006 -- At its recent meeting in Kansas City, the American Concrete Institute (ACI) Technical Activities Committee considered and acted on the terms of the technical committee chairs, which were set to expire on March 20, 2006. The committee invited Paul Hedli, PE of Hatch Mott MacDonald, to continue in his appointment as the chair of the ACI Committee 121, Quality Assurance Systems for Concrete, for a second two-year term. This appointment and position on a significant national technical committee is a tribute to Mr. Hedli's work on the New York City Department of Environmental Protection's Concrete QAS Program and his contributions to the ACI throughout his membership...

Hach hires new flow, sampling key account manager -- LOVELAND, CO, Jan. 13, 2006 -- As an industry leader in Flow & Sampling, Hach Company is pleased to announce that Phil Brenner has joined the company as key account manager for its Flow & Sampling business. Brenner has extensive experience working in flow monitoring and civil engineering. Most recently, he spent the last five years as the technical sales and service project manager for MGD Technologies Inc. Prior to MGD, he spent three years with ADS Environmental Services Inc. as a data analyst/field service technician...

Leadership team named for Cytec Specialty Chemicals -- WEST PATERSON, NJ, Jan. 13, 2006 -- Cytec Industries Inc. unveiled the formation of a leadership team for the newly established Cytec Specialty Chemicals. The team will report to the division President Shane Fleming. Cytec Specialty Chemicals is comprised of two business segments, Cytec Performance Chemicals and Cytec Surface Specialties...

Jury awards $30 million to construction workers in Carson roof collapse case against Harsco Corp., DYK Inc. -- LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13, 2006 -- A Los Angeles Superior Court jury (Compton Division) awarded a grand total of $30 million to 12 plaintiffs in a negligence lawsuit in which Harsco Corp. and DYK, Inc. were both found liable for an October 2001 Carson, CA. roof collapse construction accident. In that accident, some plaintiffs plunged six-stories from the roof of Tank No. 19 being constructed for the Sanitation District of Los Angeles County into a tank filled with rebar, metal and wet concrete and while other plaintiffs were left clinging to rebar, suspended 50 feet above the ground until they were rescued. The damages phase of the trial began on Sept. 15, 2005 and the case went to the jury on Nov. 18. The Hon. Rose Hom presided over both the liability phase and damages phase of the trial. Gonzalo Castillo vs. Quality Shoring and Scaffold, Inc., Case No. TC015917 (lead case)...
Also see: "Harsco, DYK found liable for 2001 tank roof collapse in Carson, Calif."

Public invited to Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Program meetings -- SACRAMENTO, Jan. 13, 2006 -- The California Resources Agency will conduct a series of four public meetings -- Jan. 18 and 19 -- to present different alternatives for restoring the Salton Sea ecosystem. The meetings are co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bob Filner, U.S Rep. Mary Bono, State Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, State Sen. Jim Battin, State Assembly member Bonnie Garcia, State Assembly member John J. Benoit and representatives of the Salton Sea Authority. This restoration effort is mandated by the 2003 Colorado River Quantification Settlement Agreement and Salton Sea Ecosystem Restoration Act. California state law requires the Secretary for Resources to prepare an ecosystem restoration plan by December 2006. The plan will then be submitted to the State Legislature for review and action...

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In earlier newsbriefs, see: "WaterBriefs: Coalition counters industry demand for blank check to pollute waters" -- Also in this report (Jan. 13, 2006): Tyco announces intent to separate into three publicly traded companies; Nephros nabs first order from major U.S. hospital for water filtration system; Arch Chemicals reports studies confirm Vantocil controls Norovirus; Five Formosa Petrochemical facilities now rely on Zimpro for spent caustic treatment; Harper challenged: Will Tories sell off Canada's water?; Fast lube centers play key role in keeping drinking water safe; Heat transfer equipment by APEX Group featured on Industrialinfo.com Radio; PUC filing shows eminent domain case against Pennichuck not in public interest; California approves major new solar energy program; Simtek expands AMR market penetration in Europe; Connecticut Water Service Inc. appoints new president/CEO; Simtek expands AMR market penetration in Europe; Sanderson Farms picks site for new poultry complex in Texas; U.N. recommends factory checks in report on China toxic spill...

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