[ADEQ Media] ADEQ Director Owens Announces $69, 000 Penalty Against Arizona American Water Company for TCE Drinking Water Contamination in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley

[media@lists.azdeq.gov]

ADEQ Director Owens Announces $69,000 Penalty Against Arizona American
Water Company for TCE Drinking Water Contamination in Scottsdale and
Paradise Valley 

PHOENIX (April 3, 2008) - Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
(ADEQ) Director Steve Owens today announced that Arizona American Water
company will pay $69,000 in penalties for water-quality violations in
which its customers in Scottsdale and Paradise Valley received drinking
water with levels of TCE (trichloroethylene) in excess of federal health
standards. 

The company is paying the penalty under a Consent Order it has entered
into with ADEQ.

"This is the maximum penalty allowed under Arizona law for these
violations," Director Owens stated.  "The company delivered contaminated
drinking water to its customers, failed to maintain and operate its
facilities to deliver safe drinking water, and failed to implement an
adequate emergency plan. This is simply unacceptable."

TCE is an industrial solvent used to remove grease from metal parts and
is an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers and spot removers. Some
people who drink water with elevated levels of TCE over many years may
have an increased risk of cancer and experience liver problems. 

Some of the company's wells draw from groundwater containing TCE, but
the water must be treated to remove the contaminant before it is safe to
drink.

About 2:30 p.m. on Jan. 15, 2008, the company's water treatment system
broke down and the alarm system failed to operate.  At about 6:30 a.m.
the following morning, an operator noticed that the system was not
working and turned it back on.  The company shut down the system at 9:30
a.m. but did not alert ADEQ and the Maricopa County Environmental
Services Department (MCESD) until late that afternoon, about 4 p.m.  At
about 5 p.m., the company began using a "reverse 911" system to warn its
customers not to drink or cook with tap water, but, according to the
company, the warning reached only 65 to 70 percent of the company's
nearly 5,000 customers.  The company also issued a press release. 

Tests taken by the company on Jan. 16 found levels of TCE of up to 23
parts per billion (ppb) in the drinking water.  The drinking water
standard for TCE is 5 ppb. Tests did not show TCE levels below 5 ppb
until results were received (for samples taken the day before) on Jan.
19, when ADEQ and MCESD authorized the company to lift the warning
against drinking the water.   


In addition to requiring Arizona American to pay the maximum penalty
allowed under state law, the Consent Order requires the company to stop
using the two wells impacted by TCE contamination in the groundwater as
drinking water sources until a new operations plan is approved. It also
requires the company to submit a new plan for treating the water,
including weekly sampling, as well as a new emergency operations plan.  

ADEQ also cited the company for dumping water contaminated with
excessive TCE levels into streets and storm sewers in Scottsdale and
Paradise Valley without having a permit to do so and without notifying
ADEQ or MCESD.  The storm sewers empty into Indian Bend Wash and
eventually into the Salt River. 

The penalty also covers violations by the company between Oct. 9-17,
2007, when the company distributed drinking water mixed with
inadequately treated TCE-containing water and failed to notify ADEQ and
MCESD until a month later in November 2007.

-30-

News media interested in additional information on this or any other
topic concerning the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality should
contact the Office of Communications at (602) 771-2215 or via email at
communications@azdeq.gov.

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