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SR-04-08-1980-11C-M 8 1900 Santa Monica, California April 1, 1980 To: Mayor and City Council From: City Staff Subject: Santa Monica Well No. 3 Introduction This report presents to the City Council a history of Santa Monica Well No. 3 (Olympic near Centinela) including the discovery of trichloroethylene (TCE) in the well water. The report also presents alternatives for the future of Well No. 3. Background r A. History of Well No. 3 Between 1965 and 1968, the City was engaged in a program of drilling test wells to supplement the sparse data available to the City and to determine the best locations for additional wells to reduce the City's dependence on imported water. It was believed the City would be able to realize a substantial reduction in the overall cost of water by drilling wells to recover local subsurface water, thus reducing dependence and purchases from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. In June, 1968, the City referred all of its accumulated data to Dr. Thomas L. Bailey, Consulting Geologist, with the request that he evaluate the results of the exploratory drilling program, prepare a comprehensive report on the geology of the Santa Monica Basin, and make specific recommendations on locations of the first wells to be drilled. Dr. Bailey submitted his first report to the l =?'R 8 1980 To: Mayor and City Council -2- April 1, 1980 City in September, 1968, recommending the northeast corner of the City Yards and the Center Parkway of Olympic Blvd. within a few hundred feet of Centinela as the best sites for well locations. Dr. Bailey felt each of these sites would probably produce 1,000 gallons per minute (gpm) of potable fresh water. Drilling was commenced at the Olympic site on September 13, 1969. At 2:30 p.m., the City Inspector at the well site noticed a strong odor similar to solvent or paint thinner. This began occurring at a drilling level of between 60 feet and 80 feet. The Inspector spoke with Mr. Carroll, President of Montgomery Engineers, Inc., who was the engineering consultant on this project. After consulting with the contractor, it was recommended that drilling continue as the well could be sealed if analysis proved it to be necessary. The odor continued until 6 p.m., but was diminishing in intensity. Samples were taken of the circulating water at the 90 to 100 foot level. The samples were mostly gravel; however, each had a strong odor. The State Health Department was contacted, and on September 15, 1969, sent technicians and its mobile laboratory. The technicians inspected the well in accordance with established procedures in effect at the time. Technology available at that time could determine no abnormalities or contaminating substances in the well - drilling operation or the produced water. As a pre- caution, however, the State Health Department directed that the space outside the well casing be sealed with concrete grout to a depth of 200 feet to provide protection against possible contamination to the well water. The well went into actual production in late 1969, producing 1,300 gallons per minute. When the well was shut down on January 5, 1980, it was producing To: Mayor and City Council -3- April 1, 1980 12 % of Santa Monica's water and was considered the best producing city well. B. Discovery of Trichloroethylene (TCE) in Well No. 3 In November, 1979, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated regulations establishing maximum contaminant levels for 114 substances identified as priority organic pollutants. These levels were published in the Federal Register, dated November 29, 1979 However, the EPA did not and has not published regulations setting limits for trichloroethylene (TCE). Federal authorities recommended each state establish a limit between 5 and 50 parts per billion (ppb), thus leaving the adoption of the limit to the state. The California Health Department adopted the lower level recommenda- tion of 5 ppb, while other states such as New York elected to use 50 ppb. In early January of this year, trichloroethylene was discovered in a water well in the San Gabriel Valley by Aero -Jet General Corporation while they were conducting an environmental impact study for expansion of one of their facilities. Subsequent analysis by the State Health Department in search of the source of the TCE contaminant revealed approximately 10 percent of the wells in the San Gabriel Valley had TCE concentrations higher than the State level of 5 ppb. Upon further examination, TCE has been found in over 50 wells in the Los Angeles area, in various water basins. Since the City of Santa Monica currently operates seven wells for the produc- tion of drinking water, the Water Production staff decided it would be prudent to have the wells analyzed, not only for TCE, but for all of the Environmental Protection Agency's 114 priority organic pollutants. To: Mayor and City Council -4- April 1, 1980 On January 15, 1980, samples were taken of the water in each of the,seven wells and sent to a State and Federally approved laboratory for analysis. The laboratory, West Coast Technical Services (WCTS) located in Cerritos, was chosen by the City because it used a gas chromatograph /masspectrometer (GS /MS) to identify organic constituents in the samples. WCTS, in addition, provided accurate results at the lowest cost to the City with the fastest turn - around time. On January 24, 1980, the results of the analysis were received. The analysis indicated Santa Monica Well No. 3 had concentrations of approximately 44 ppb of TCE. Well No. 2 had concentrations of 2 ppb. Well No. 3 was then closed by the staff and the State Health Department was notified by telephone of the City's actions. Just prior to'shutdown, recheck samples were taken from Well No. 3 and from various stations through which water flows to the treatment plant and to the consumer. On January 25, 1980, the State Health Department sampled Santa Monica Well No. 3 after five minutes of operation. During this sampling, no water was permitted into the water system from the well. On January 28, 1980, the State Health Department reported finding 7.8 ppb TCE in their sample from Santa Monica Well No. 3. Because the State Health Department's result differed so greatly from the result reported by WCTS, the Water Production staff requested the State to resample the well over a one -hour period so as to more closely match the conditions under which the City's samples were taken. On January 29, 1980, the State resampled Santa Monica Well No. 3 while it was pumping to waste at start up and after 5, 10, 15, 30, and 60 minutes of operation. The State recheck sample results were available on January 31, 1980, and showed the following results: To: Mayor and City Council Time (Minutes) 0 5 10 15 30 60 -5- PPB TCE 5.5 7.0 8.8 7.4 7.9 7.9 April 1, 1980 On February 1, 1980, the City received results of the recheck samples of Well No. 3 which were sent to WCTS. The results confirmed the level of 35 ppb of TCE at the well head. The City chose to proceed on the basis that WCTS' results were more accurate than the State's because their test apparatus (GC /MS) is qualitatively more accurate. The Water Production staff conducted a survey of businesses in the immediate vicinity of Santa Monica No. 3 for possible sources of TCE. It was found the business sites in the immediate vicinity of Santa Monica Well No. 3 are distributors only. No manufacturing or disposal is currently done. One company handles products containing TCE, as a distributor, but what is received is not opened on the premises. Staff has concluded the most probable cause of the contamination is from an injection well in the area which at one time was being used for disposal of chemical wastes. Since that business has been closed for the past 25 years, it is now impossible to discover the parameters of the contamination without taking borings of the area to discover the depth and extent of the under- ground movement of the waste. To: Mayor and City Council -6- April 1, 1980 C. Treatment It has been found that aeration in the water treatment process increases the dissolved oxygen content of water for the purpose of oxidizing undesired contaminants or for removing undissolved gases and volatile organic com- pounds such as TCE. Removal or reduction of volatile organics is achieved by the effect of air passing through the water. Staff investigated aeration and blending alternatives in the course of preparing a report for State review. In late February 1980, the City prepared the "Report on Trichloroethylene" for State Health Department consideration which presented a proposal for re- opening Santa Monica Well No. 3. The report proposed a monitoring system for organic pollutants in addition to the current monitoring of bacterio- logical and inorganic constituents. The TCE monitoring was to be performed bi- monthly for the first three months of operation, monthly for the second three months of operation, and quarterly thereafter. The monitoring sites would be Santa Monica Wells No. 2 and No. 3, the effluent from Arcadia Reservoir (after treatment) and sampler stations in the 250 foot zone (consumer product). The State Health Department, in its letter of March 3, 1980, concluded from the City's report that "Water from Santa Monica Well No. 3 will be blended with other well waters in your system which have a low or nil concentration of TCE, that the water will be aerated at your treatment plant to further reduce the TCE concentration, and that the concen- tration of TCE in the water delivered to your consumers would be well below 5 ppb." To: Mayor and City Council -7- April 1, 1980 In addition, the Health Department modified slightly the City's monitoring schedule by proposing that Santa Monica Wells No. 2 and No. 3 should be sampled daily for the first two weeks of operation and weekly for the following two weeks. The Arcadia reservoir effluent should be sampled daily for the first week of operation and weekly for the subsequent three weeks. The State Health Department concluded its letter by stating: "It appears that with your blending and aeration scheme you will be able to meet the SNARL (Suggested No Adverse Response Level) of 5 ppb while Santa Monica Well No. 3 is in operation. We have no objection to your returning Santa Monica Well No. 3 to service provided that your monitoring program is revised to comply with the modifications stipulated in this letter." During the treatment process which the water from Well No. 3 undergoes, the 35 -44 ppb level of TCE is reduced to 10 ppb as a result of blending the water with the City's other well waters which contain no detectable TCE and with Santa Monica Well No. 2 which contains 2 ppb of TCE. The level of TCE is then further reduced to 2 ppb as a result of the several stages of aeration the water passes through before it arrives at the Arcadia reservoir located near Wilshire and Bundy. By the time water reaches the 250 foot pressure zone from the reservoir, it contains only 1 ppb of TCE. This level was verified by tests taken immediately prior to shutdown of Well No. 3. Analysis clearly shows the level of TCE is reduced to levels well below the action level of 5 ppb. To: Mayor and City Council -8- April 1, 1980 D. Recognition of Trihalomethanes (THM) Since the widespread recognition of TCE in the two Santa Monica Wells by the general public, MWD officials have discovered small amounts of trihalomethanes (THM) in their water. These common compounds, including chloroform which is the only compound in this group identified as a carcinogen, form in the water supplies when chlorine is added in the treatment process. The organic compounds result from the interaction of natural organics found in water, such as the decomposition of grass and weeds with chlorine -based disinfectants. The more protracted the contact time between these agents, the higher the THM level in the water. MWD water imported from Northern California is particularly subject to collecting natural organics due to its passage through the Delta area of the Sacramento River. The maximum contaminant level of THM allowable in water at this time (as set forth by the EPA) is 100 ppb. This standard may be reduced by EPA from 100 ppb as more is discovered about the effects of THM on life. The EPA has recommended to water producers that if they plan to build plants to reduce THM they should plan to reduce it to a level of 15 ppb. Monitoring systems must be in effect for both MWD and Santa Monica's water systems by November 29, 1980. The system must meet the maximum contaminant level by November 29, 1981. Santa Monica must wait until MWD has finalized its plans to reduce THM before we can plan our own systems. The reduction of THM is a regional problem which undoubtedly will be handled by MWD. The solution to this regional problem To: Mayor and City Council -9- April 1, 1980 could be quite some time in coming and will obviously face various unavoid- able delays. The conclusion of this aspect of the water supply situation as it applies to Santa Monica (and other cities which use both imported MWD water and pumped local water) is that if locally produced water is curtailed because of TCE or other reasons, it necessitates the use of additional amounts of imported water. This results in introducing additional amounts of THM into the system. In the present case, the amount of imported water is increased from approxi- mately 55% to approximately 67% by not using Well No. 3. With Well No. 3 in use, the expected THM levels would be approximately 22% less. Alternatives 1. Granulated Activated Carbon Filtration System This alternative would require building a new treatment plant to provide a granulated activated carbon system to supplement the existing sand and resin filtration system. The major drawbacks to this system are the multi- million dollar expense to build a filtration plant, the cost of purchasing carbon, and the cost and large amounts of energy used to reactivate the carbon which must be done at 700 degrees F. The technology of the design and operation of such plants is far from being perfected. So far as we have been able to determine, no such plant exists for drinking water in the western United States. 2. Monitor Industries Using TCE This would involve using a staff member or an outside chemist to monitor the local industries' use or disposal of TCE so the same problem does not arise in the future. Cost: $5,000 /year assuming 100 locations. To: Mayor and City Council -10- April 1, 1980 3. Discovery of the Contamination Source The City can hire consulting engineers to take borings of the soil (with property owners' approval) to determine the depth and extent of the suspected chemical contamination. It is possible tests will indi- cate that the dump site can be excavated and cleaned up or sealed to prevent further contamination of the aquifer. The cost of this work is estimated to be $50,000. (The staff has a proposal to do the soil boring for $41,000 and the testing should be approximately $9,000). 4. Re -Open the Well and Monitor Pumping The City could re -open Santa Monica Well No. 3 and perform the monitoring tests required by the State. If monitoring indicates the need, more aeration could be added to the treatment procedure. This alternative would be the least costly to the City, could be effective immediately, and is accepted by both the EPA and the State Health Department. The cost would be $5,720 for the first year and $2,100 for each year there- after for monitoring the TCE in locally produced water. 5. Seal the Well /Purchase Metropolitan Water District (MWD) Water The City can continue its present policy of closing Santa Monica Well No. 3. The result is an expense of $400 a day through the purchase of additional imported MWD water to replace water lost from sealing Well No. 3. The major drawback to this alternative is that the City has no control over the MWD water it receives and must rely on the MWD to monitor the water and report results in a timely fashion. In addition, To: Mayor and City Council -11- April 1, 1980 THM is present in MWD water as discussed above. The cost to purchase the additional MWD water will be approximately $146,000 a year. 6. Drill a New Well and Close Well No. 3 Permanently The City recently received bids for drilling three new wells. The bids are based on unit costs per foot of depth. A new well complete with equipment and connections to the transmission pipeline will cost from $180,000 to $250,000, depending on the location of the new well. Recommendation It is recommended that the City Council adopt Alternatives 2, 3, and 4, and Staff be directed to call for proposals to accomplish Alternative No. 3. Further, the City Attorney be directed to determine if the costs associated with Alternative No. 3 can be recovered from the property owner of the land from which the contamination came and /or the person or firm which dumped or caused the contaminant to be dumped. It is further recommended that the Council appropriate $5,000 from Water Funds for professional services and authorize Ecological Systems, Inc., Santa Monica, to do certain work to accomplish Alternative No. 2. Prepared by Stan Scholl Marsha Hafkemeyer Ed Lash Attachment: Letter from State Health Dept. STATE OF CALIFORNIA — HEALTH AND WELF- AGENCY EDMUND G. BROWN 1R., Governor 1DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES - Sanitary Engineering Section 1449 WEST TEMPLE STREET, Room 202 P.O. BOX 30327 TERMINAL ANNEX LOS ANGELES, CA 90030 ur6r' Telephone: (213) 620 -2980 City of Santa Monica 1685 Main Street Santa Monica, California 90401 Attention: Mr. E. H. Lash Enterprises Manager Gentlemen: March 5, 1980 Re: System No. 19 -146 Report on Trichloroethylene This is to acknowledge receipt of your "Report on Trichloroethylene" which was prepared in conjunction with your request to operate Santa Monica Well No. 3 which was shown to produce a water with a trichloroethylene (TOE) concentration greater than the suggested adverse response level (SNARL) of 5 ppb. We have reviewed this rerort and have concluded from it that water from Santa Monica Well No. 3 will be blended with other well waters in your system which have a low or nil concentration of TOE, that the water will be aerated at your treatment plant to further reduce the TCE concentration and that the concentration of TOE in the water delivered to your consumers will be well below 5 ppb. In order to facilitate the operations of your treatment plant we suggest that the monitoring program on Page 9 of the report be modified. As presently proposed, Santa Monica Wells Nos. 2 and 3 and the Arcadia Reservoir effluent will be sampled twice monthly for the first 3 months of operation, once monthly for the second three months and quarterly thereafter. To ascertain if the TOE concentration varies greatly in the two wells they should be sampled daily for the first two weeks of operation and weekly for the following two weeks. Your proposed monitoring schedule should then be followed. The reservoir effluent should be sampled daily for the first week of operation of Santa Monica Well No. 3 and weekly for the subsequent three weeks. Thereafter, your proposed monitoring program should be followed. r F -2- It appears that with your blending and aeration scheme you will be able to meet the SNARL of 5 ppb while Santa Monica Well No. 3 is in operation. We have no objection to your returning Santa Monica Well No. 3 to service provided that your monitoring program is revised to comply with the modifications stipulated in this letter. Should any of your effluent monitoring results exceed 5 ppb or should there be any appreciable upward change in the results of your well sampling, you shall immediately notify this office. S ncerely, William . MacPherson District anitary Engineer cc: Los Angeles County Department of Health Services INFORMATION Santa Monica, California July 23, 1980 To: Mayor and City Council From: City Staff Subject: Progress Report on Monitoring of TCE in Water System Introduction This report provides information relating to the monitoring of TCE in the water system for the period from May 1980 until the present time. This report will also provide information on certain actions that the staff has taken to reduce the amount of TCE in the system. Background On April 14, the City Council took action to request the staff to take a number of measures to control and reduce the levels of TCE in the water system. (Item 11 -C). Those items included: engaging a consultant to monitor industries using TCE, appropriation of $50,000 to engage consultants to take borings and try to discover the source of the contamination, and to re -open well Number 3 and to perform monitoring to determine the levels of TCE at various points in the system. Progress which has been made to date includes action on all three aspects of the approved course of action. Dr. Herbert Conrad of Ecological Systems, Inc., Santa Monica, was engaged to monitor the industries using TCE and is approximately 60% completed. It is anticipated that it will be completed and a report will be ready for presentation to Council within the next 60 days. The engaging of a consultant to try to discover the sources of the contamin- ation is ready to be submitted to the Council for consultant selection in To: Mayor and City Council -2- July 23, 1980 August. An RFP was distributed to a number of consultants and proposals have been received and evaluated. The staff is ready to recommend a consultant, together with a proposed detailed course of action. Progress on the monitoring and testing of the water at various points in the system has been accomplished in accordance with the testing schedule recommended by the State Health Department and approved by the City Council. This schedule included monitoring (testing) daily for the first two weeks, and weekly for the following two weeks, bi- weekly for three months, monthly for three months, and quarterly thereafter. The detailed results of the testing are attached to this report for reference. Also attached are graphs showing how the TCE levels varied in the water distributed to the customers. The TCE levels in the water distributed to the customers have varied from 0.6 to 4.7 parts per million during the period from May until the present time. The TCE levels were generally below 2.0 during the month of May; but increased to a maximum of 4.7 in the system during the month of June. Because the levels appeared to be approaching 5.0, the limit suggested by the City Council, the staff took immediate steps in June to introduce increased aeration at the Arcadia Treatment Plant. The amount of aeration was approximately doubled by the installation of a dual blower and piping system. Since this installation, the TCE levels have been significantly reduced and the latest test, dated July 17, 1980 for water sampled on July 2, 1980, shows that the TCE levels in the system are 0.6 parts per billion. Because of the fact that levels of TCE have been controlled and are presently significantly less than the Maximum Concentration Limit (MCL), the aeration and blending operations appear to be successful and appear to be meeting the To: Mayor and City Council -3- July 23, 1980 policy guidelines established on April 14, 1980. The staff proposes to continue the monitoring program as approved by the City Council in April and to take action to continue to control the TCE levels by using one or more of the following methods: 1. If TCE levels begin to approach the MCL, increased aeration will be used. 2. Limit the number of hours per day of operation of Wells Number 2 and 3. Prepared by: Stan Scholl Jack Hoagland Attachments: Test Results -- July 17, 1980 Memo Summarizing Test Results -- July 10, 1980 Memo Summarizing Test Results -- May 28, 1980 Graph showing TCE levels in wells versus levels to consumers Graph showing total trihalomethanes in each pressure zone Prepared For City of Santa 11.0nica S. -undy Dr. Los Angeles, CA 90025 Attn: Jack Hoagland Date T Job No. July 17, 1950 19695/ -s P.O. No. Dale Received 43£1137 July 2, 19`0 Description of Samples IM 17605 Fabrics Way Cerritos, California 90701 213/921 -9831 J714/523 -9200 Three !water samples (in duplicate) labeled 623, 630, and f,31. The above- samples were extracted Into isooctane and analyzed for tri- chloroethylene (TICE) on a gas chrorratograph equipped with an electron capture detector. The results are listed below/: Sample TCE (1f c /L ) 629 0.G 4 ec _ 4��Z_ 530 5.5 SEan -:6 ^? 631 0.6 yn ,q , ,, Sr We would appreciate a telephone call if you have any questions regarding this report. Page 1 of —1 —pages. I certify that this report truly represents the findings of work performed by me, or under my direct supervision. GL. 'ce ery nn, t.lett Staff Chemist Reviewed & Approved. G. J. Ncrthingicn, Ph.D. Technical Director This report pertains only to the samples investigated and does not necessarily apply to other apparently Identical or similar materials. This report is submitted for the exclusive use of the client to whom it is addressed. Any reproduction of this report or use of this Laboratory's name for advertising or publicity purposes without written authorization is prohibited. f£ CITY OF SANTA MONICA DATE: July 10, 1980 T0: Ed Lash FRONI: J. Hoagland SUBJECT: TCE MONITORING PROGRAM ANALYSIS REPORT SMWL # DATE LOCATION TCE (ppb) 419 5 -21 14th & Olympic Sampler 1.8 422 5 -21 Arcadia Reservoir Effluent 1.7 423 5 -21 Santa Monica Well #2 6.9 424 5 -21 Santa Monica Well #3 14.7 425 5 -21 Salt Water Line @ Arcadia 1.6 441 5 -28 Santa Monica Well #2 6.6 442 5 -28 Santa Monica Well #3 23.3 443 5 -28 Maim St. Sampler 3.7 444 5 -28 Arcadia Reservoir Effluent 3.2 478 6 -4 14th & Olympic Sampler 4.7 479 6 -4 Santa Monica Well #2 6.4 480 6 -4 Santa Monica Well #3 31.0 481 6 -4 Arcadia Reservoir Effluent 4.6 521 6 -11 Main Street Sampler 3.5 524 6 -11 Santa Monica Well #2 7.8 525 6 -11 Santa Monica Well #3 29.0 526 6 -11 Arcadia Reservoir Effluent 3.8 563 6 -18 Santa Monica Well #3 33.0 564 6 -18 14th & Olympic Sampler 3.1 566 6 -18 Santa Monica Well #5 N.D. (< 0.1) Discussion: Santa Monica Well #3 shows a relatively sharp increase in TCE levels'from the 7.8 ppb values during the first two weeks of operation to the apparent "steady- state" level of approximately 30. parts per billion. Santa Monica #2 shows stability at approximately 7.0 ppb. CITY OF SANTA MONICA DATE: May 28, 1980 TO: Mr. Ed Lashy Enterprises Manager- FROM,: Jack Hoagland, Water Chemist SUBJECT: TCE Monitoring Program: First Two Weeks Report. Following are the results of the TCE Monitoring program for the days May 7, 1980, to May 20, 1980, inclusive,. These samples were sampled by the Water Chemist and analysed by the State Department of Health Services, Results are in parts per billion Trichloroathylene SM#2 is Santa Monica Well Q SMA is Santa Monica Well ,'r3 Arc, Res. is Arcadia Reservoir Effluent: to the 250 foot: zone and represents the maximum amount of TCE that a consumer might receive, DATE SM =2 SM #3 " ARC. RES 5 -7 -80 7.8 6,5 0.18 5 -8 7.0 7,6 1..6 5 -9 7.5 6.5 1.7 5 -10 7.5 7.5 1,.5 5 -11 7.1 8.2 Z.8 5-12 7.3 8.3 IS 7 5 -13 7.1 8.4 1.6 5 -14 7.9 8,1 1,8 5 -15 7.6 7,6 1.7 5 -16 7.3 &1 1.7 5 -17 7:4 7.7 1.7 5 -18 7.6 8.9 1 -7. 5 -19 - 7,2 10.0 1.8 5 -20 6,0 7.6 0.80 These analyses were done only by the State and we have no cross check of their accuracy. Currently weekly samples are being analysed by an outside Lab._ with results expected by June 2, 1980, to ®, M N — O U') M M N i fN � N Q O_ W Z z E M W O ui z p m O j O > Z) U.) U) J Cn V z W W n.mh J X U W Z i Q z p u') O ,n tn It M N — O N — W N i fN � W O W Z z Z O W W d ui z p UJ O j O > Z) U.) U) .1 J Cn V z W W n.mh WOiw X U H CL Q z O 4 tt W a � a z 0 a o_ 0 co w h Q N N N p u') O ,n tn It M N — O N — W z W W Z z Z O W d ui z p UJ O j -1 F- O X > Z) U.) U) .1 J Cn V z W W n.mh WOiw X U H CL N Z O H Q W of Z I— O Z N W U W Z Y O U to W W U d' H d O Q Z U H z Q Q W z O Q N Z O Z (� H H Q 2 CD O U C O a i v O. 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