By SUSAN EVANS
NORTHERN CAMBRIA — Federal clean water rankings place the Northern Cambria and Hastings public water systems in the top five Pennsylvania systems polluted with an industrial chemical that is associated with cancer, heart ailments and other illnesses.
While most recently plagued with E. coli contamination and a state probe of shoddy treatment operations, there are additional underlying problems in Northern Cambria’s water utility.
A national study lists the Northern Cambria and Hastings water systems as being “the most polluted communities in Pennsylvania.”
The other three listed are Lebanon, Millersville and Lewistown.
The villain is a chemical called 1,2-dichloroethane, a pollutant commonly used in industrial chemical factories, said the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, which specializes in monitoring toxic chemicals.
But while the recent E. coli contamination was measurable and quick to draw enforcement from the state Department of Environmental Protection, legal limits of dichloroethane are not as clear.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies the chemical as a contaminant, but does not bring an enforcement action until the level is very high.
Thus a contaminant can be present, but not in a high enough level to realistically require a water system to remove it. Both Hastings and Northern Cambria fall in that range.
However, it is yet another reminder of the importance of safe water, and it comes on top of the recent news of Northern Cambria’s E. coli contamination.
Water authority officials on Friday again issued assurances that it is safe to drink the water treated by the Northern Cambria Municipal Water Authority.
The Spangler water system is not affected.
“The one thing we want everyone to know is that the water is safe to drink,” said authority member Paul Weaver.
“Many of the problems found at the plant have already been corrected,” he said.
Northern Cambria’s industrial heritage of mining and manufacturing has long been known to carry environmental costs – including as far away as the Chesapeake Bay, via the West Branch of the Susquehanna River.
That’s why in 2006 Northern Cambria received a $3.9 million state grant to help clean water fouled by abandoned-mine drainage in Cambria County.
But villain chemicals such as 1,2-dichloroethane don’t go away easily.
While releases of the chemical to water evaporate, it will leach into groundwater, where it is lasts for a long time, with little drop in toxicity, according to EPA.
The state’s probe of the E. coli scare at the Northern Cambria Water Treatment Plant is ongoing, and inspectors promise it will be “very thorough.”
