City of Redding shut off water well where toxic 'forever chemicals' detected
A city of Redding water well where "forever chemicals" had been detected has been shut down, a city of Redding official said Tuesday.
The city of Redding's water system was included on a list of agencies whose drinking water exceeded Environmental Protection Agency minimum reporting levels for "forever chemicals," also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
PFAS chemicals have been linked to to increased risk of cancer, as well as effects on the liver, immune system, cardiovascular system and human development, according to the EPA..
The chemicals have been found in more than one in four public drinking water systems across the U.S. this year in concentrations at or above the Environmental Protection Agency’s minimum reporting levels.
That’s according to new EPA data released on Nov. 9 that showed hundreds of water systems in several states have detected PFAS. Together, these systems provide drinking water to about 46 million people, according to USA Today.
PFAS, are a group of nearly indestructible chemicals that build up in the human body over time. They’ve been used widely for decades in nonstick cooking pans and water-repellent household products, as well as in industrial products.
Watkins said a well in east Redding tested positive for one of the substances in the PFAS category. That well operated from July to September this year and was shut down after the city received a positive test for the chemical.
He wasn't sure which chemical was found in the water. But, since the PFAS are used in substances such as teflon, it may have come from a piece of teflon tape, used to seal water pipe fittings, that fell in the Enterprise area well, Watkins said. He said they were able to fish out most of the tape from the well.
The well that showed PFAS was a minor well, producing only about 300 gallons of water per minute, compared to about 1,500 gallons-per-minute for the city's other wells, Watkins said. When the well was operating, it provided about 6% of the water pumped in the Enterprise area and was diluted even more when it mixed with the city's entire system, he said.
Because the well water was so diluted, Watkins said he didn't think it posed a danger to human health.
He said the city is measuring for "parts per trillion," and when measuring for amounts that small it is easy to get false positives from contaminants that taint samples.
Every five years, the EPA requires water systems to monitor for several unregulated pollutants. The current effort focuses on forever chemicals and the EPA describes it as its most comprehensive PFAS monitoring initiative ever conducted.
The data released Nov. 9 represents a small portion of the additional sample results that the agency expects to collect and publish over the next few years from every large and mid-size public water system in America, as well as hundreds of small systems.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding shut down water well where toxic 'forever chemicals' detected
