Sen. Feinstein urges cleanup of Henderson chemical spill

Thursday, Jan. 9, 2003 | 11:08 a.m.

U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is asking Kerr-McGee Corp. to speed up efforts to clean up a chemical spill at its Henderson facility, and is also urging the Environmental Protection Agency to oversee the remediation.

In separate letters to the company and the EPA this week, Feinstein, D-Calif., expressed concern that the spill of perchlorate, the main chemical in rocket fuel, is threatening drinking water supplies for 20 million residents in Southern California, Nevada and Arizona.

"While I understand that Kerr-McGee has committed tens of millions of dollars to clean up the Henderson facility, every day approximately 450 pounds of perchlorate continue to leech into Lake Mead and the Colorado River via the Las Vegas Wash," Feinstein wrote in a letter dated Jan. 6 to Kerr-McGee Corp. Chairman Luke Corbett.

Feinstein said water entering California now contains perchlorate at between four and nine parts per billion, "exceeding safe water standards under consideration by California officials."

Kerr-McGee spokeswoman Debbie Schramm declined to comment.

"In reference to the letter, we just received it and we're in the process of reviewing it," Schramm said Wednesday.

Feinstein asked Kerr-McGee to install remediation wells to improve extraction of groundwater between Athens Road and the Las Vegas Wash. She also asked the company to extract perchlorate-contaminated groundwater in the gravel area around the wash and to use new technologies to treat or contain all groundwater.

Todd Croft, remediation supervisor at the site for the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, said those efforts are already under way. A system of 34 wells -- including eight wells at the Athens Road site -- is pulling contaminated water for treatment, he said.

The system should remove 95 percent or more of the pollutant from the water within about two years, Croft said. The reason for the time lag from the installation of the wells last October and the removal of the perchlorate is that it will take time to affect water already flowing to the wash, he said.

"Getting it totally out of the environment will take decades," Croft said. "Ultimately we can't stop all the perchlorate from getting into the wash. But you've got to start somewhere."

The goal now is to have 1 part per billion of perchlorate in Lake Mead in 10 years, he said.

J.C. Davis, a spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority and the Las Vegas Valley Water District, said his agencies are "extremely interested bystanders" in the process of removing perchlorate from the water.

The level of perchlorate in December was pegged at 13 parts per billion, something Davis equated to "a handful of salt crystals in an Olympic-sized swimming pool."

Neither the water authority nor the water district, which delivers water to homes and businesses in Las Vegas and Clark County, treats the water to remove perchlorate. Davis said home reverse-osmosis filters can remove most of the contaminant from tap water.

Kerr-McGee, an oil and gas company, ran a perchlorate factory that leaked up to 900 pounds of perchlorate every day into groundwater. The contamination began decades ago when perchlorate was dumped into unlined ponds at the Kerr-McGee site.

The company has invested $61 million in the cleanup.

The level of perchlorate in Lake Mead varies, but is high now because of drought conditions which have left less water to dilute the contamination, Davis said.

"Over the course of time the lake will cleanse itself," Davis added.

Feinstein's Jan. 7 letter to EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman asks the agency to set a federal drinking water standard for perchlorate.

"While I understand EPA is currently evaluating whether to establish a drinking water standard, existing scientific research already strongly suggests that perchlorate can pose serious health risks, especially to pregnant women and children," Feinstein wrote.

Scientists consider perchlorate a chemical that can alter hormonal balances, and when ingested by newborns, impede thyroid hormones, metabolism and brain development.

The EPA's website lists the maximum concentration of perchlorate at the Kerr-McGee monitoring well as 3.7 million parts per billion.

California has an advisory limit that requires water systems to warn their customers when the level of perchlorate reaches four parts per billion. The EPA's draft proposal is one part per billion but the agency's existing recommendation is 18 parts per billion.

Croft, however, said the final number could be subject to change. Scientists are studying perchlorate to find what could be acceptable. Ultimately, a cost-benefit analysis could determine how much perchlorate is allowed in drinking water, he said.

"There's a tremendous amount of uncertainty out there," Croft said.

Sun reporters

Erin Neff and Judy Odierna contributed to this story.