Firm told to stop selling dust-control chemical

Monday, March 12, 2001 | 11:33 a.m.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, fearing that more of the rocket fuel booster perchlorate will get into Southern Nevada's drinking water, has asked Titanium Metals Corp. to stop selling a tainted dust control chemical.

Brenda Pohlmann, chief of the division's Las Vegas office, said that a magnesium chloride sample recently tested from Timet's Henderson site contained 2.2 parts per million of perchlorate.

Perchlorate, a salt that improves spacecraft engine performance but can interfere with thyroid functions in people, is produced by Timet's industrial neighbor, Kerr McGee Corp. It has been found in Lake Mead, which provides drinking water to the Las Vegas Valley.

Magnesium chloride, a byproduct of titanium production, is sold by Timet to control dust around the Las Vegas Valley.

About 100 sites around the Las Vegas Valley use magnesium chloride with water for dust control, because the chemical helps keep the water on the ground longer, according to Lew Wallenmeyer, enforcement supervisor for the county health district's Air Quality Division.

Wallenmeyer said the use of the chemical to control dust is widespread in Clark County. But the percentage that comes from the Timet plant isn't tracked by the division.

The division requires construction companies and others to use dust control methods, but doesn't tell them where to buy the dust control material, said Jennifer Sizemore, a division spokeswoman.

State officials fear more perchlorate from the tainted magnesium chloride could enter the water supply either through surface runoff or by being leached into the ground water.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority, the state and Kerr McGee are working to reduce levels of perchlorate in Lake Mead. Drinking water samples reached 24 parts per billion of perchlorate last year, but the level had dropped to 16 parts per billion in January.

The state has no theory on how the perchlorate found its way into the magnesium chloride, but wants distribution of the dust control chemical stopped until it has answers. It sent Timet the request last month.

Timet stopped distributing the magnesium chloride for dust control and is taking steps to review its metal processing, Pohlmann said.

The state's request was necessary to stop further perchlorate contamination, Pohlmann said. "We've got a potential major problem here. I had to take the actions I did."

In the long run, if Timet's magnesium chloride is kept off the market, it could require construction sites to use more water for dust control, Wallenmeyer said.

However, Timet's environmental manager, Craig Wilkinson, said the state is blaming the wrong source for the perchlorate.

"It's not our sample," Wilkinson said Thursday. "It's impossible for us to produce perchlorate."

Timet makes titanium, a light, strong metal used in airplanes, spacecraft, artificial joints and golf clubs.

Wilkinson said the test performed on the magnesium chloride could be at fault. The batch that was sampled at UNLV originated in Salt Lake City, though it was being distributed at Timet's Henderson plant, he said.

Or, he said, the source could be the water used at Timet's plants. Timet also gets its water from Lake Mead through a separate pipe on Saddle Island near the valley's two drinking water pipelines. Since the water contains perchlorate, Timet is analyzing water samples to see if the lake's water is contaminating the magnesium chloride.

The company also is examining what happens to chemicals during metal processing at its plant. Perchlorate may be concentrating in the magnesium chloride, Pohlmann said.