City looks for solution to perchlorate problem
Iowa City Press-Citizen, Rachel Gallegos
Published February 6, 2007
Whether or not Hills needs its own citywide water system franchise depends on whom you ask.
Because for years, 25 to 30 households in Hills have been using water contaminated with perchlorate, the explosive ingredient in solid rocket fuel. The rest of the 679-member population isn't affected because their wells don't tap into the plume of shallow groundwater perchlorate contamination that runs through a portion of town.
"I know for sure I don't want to give up my well," said Steven Cook Sr., who put in his 160- to 165-foot deep well years ago because of high iron content water coming from the more shallow well at his home.
"They only need to hook up those who are being contaminated by that water," he said.
Because of the perchlorate contamination, Hills is considering a citywide water system franchise, with the water storage facility owned by the city and the pipes and pumps owned by Iowa City-based Maxwell Construction. It would be the company's first franchise agreement with a municipality.
If a citywide water system is implemented, residents would have a new bill to pay -- estimated to be about $48 to $50 a month. Currently, residents pay a $61.50 bill every quarter for sewer and garbage. A town meeting is set for Wednesday at the community center.
Under the proposed franchise agreement:
• The city would issue general obligation bonds for $700,000 to $1 million for a water tank or tower.
• All commercial properties would have to agree to be on the system, as well as all 260 residential and commercial sewer customers.
• There would be a hookup fee estimated to cost $1,000 per household, a cost the city council has contemplated including in the bond issue.
Why now?
The EPA accidentally discovered the perchlorate contamination in 2001 while scouring for pesticide residues left behind by grain bins. Temporary solutions included providing bottled water to affected residents from 2003 -- the year perchlorate was found in home wells -- to 2005, when the agency installed reverse osmosis treatment systems in the homes that needed them.
But beginning last year, "the Environmental Protection Agency has indicated they want the city of Hills to come up with a solution for the perchlorate problem," city attorney Jay Honohan said.
When perchlorate levels are higher than 18 parts per billion, it can interfere with iodine intake by the thyroid gland, which could affect metabolism and could cause thyroid tumors. For fetuses, infants and children, changes in thyroid hormone levels can cause lowered IQ, mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech and motor skill deficits, according to the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C.
Perchlorate has been found in drinking water, groundwater and soil in at least 40 states, according to the EWG.
What it's like
Because of the reverse osmosis treatment system, Vivian Knebel has two faucets at her kitchen sink -- one that dispenses a thin stream of treated water, the other a normal faucet with regular water.
Knebel said she uses the treated water for cooking, drinking and making iced tea and uses the unfiltered water for washing dishes and vegetables.
Although Knebel said she can't tell the difference in taste, she notices the clarity of water, especially for her favorite drink: iced tea.
"I've never questioned the taste of the water," she said.
Water from her shallow sand-point well, which goes 18 feet below the floor of her basement, showed 28.8 micrograms per liter perchlorate concentration in May 2002. The high was 61.4 micrograms per liter in July 2004.
When she first found out about the perchlorate in her water, "I didn't understand it well enough to really panic," she said.
Knebel said she is interested to hear Wednesday night's presentation.
"I am all for whatever it might be as long as it's a feasible solution," she said.
Getting response
The town meeting will include a presentation by Maxwell Construction and MMS Consultants Inc. Resident reaction at the meeting will be a gauge for both the City Council and the construction company about how -- or if -- they should continue, Honohan said.
If the matter progressed, the city would be required to have a franchise election that would need a simple majority to pass, he said. The franchise agreement for the water system would be similar to other franchise agreements the city has with MidAmerican Energy and Mediacom, Honohan said.
The city would not, however, be required to have an additional election to issue general obligation bonds because the bonds would be going toward an essential public service, Honohan said. The city council has been considering having the election regardless, he said.
Hills officials agreed to go forward with the franchise proposal because a feasibility study showed it would cost the city between $2.7 million to $3 million for water tanks, pumps, pipes and water distribution, Honohan said.
"What this proposal does is reduce the city's cost" about one-third for the entire project, he said.
Is change necessary?
At Shirley Streb's home, the three-filter reverse osmosis treatment system "works just fine," said Streb, one of the homeowners affected by perchlorate.
Streb said she and her husband, Marv, stopped using bottled water when the EPA stopped providing it in 2005.
Their filter sits on a shelf Marv Streb built in the basement directly under the kitchen sink, not taking up any cabinet space.
"We're quite happy with the situation the way it is," Shirley Streb said.
