Officers are investigating a number of hearth stations between Livermore and Pleasanton for water contamination as Pleasanton continues searching for new properly websites.
In 2023, The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Board began to look at services for proof of doable PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl substances, in groundwater and runoff storm water within the two cities.
The board selected to research the fireplace stations after Pleasanton in 2019 started shutting down its three wells as a result of important PFAS contamination. The board now needs to determine if fire-fighting foams, which comprise the without end chemical, have been a major supply of a large subsurface plume of these substances.
Fireplace Station 10 in Livermore was discovered to have low ranges of contamination. The board decided that “it does not appear the facility is a significant contributor to PFAS in the groundwater,” in response to Alec Naugle, the toxics cleanup division chief for the board.
“Our goal is to rule in or rule out the LPFD fire station facilities as potential PFAS sources to groundwater by the end of 2025,” Naugle mentioned in an announcement.
Nonetheless, the long-lasting contaminants have been discovered “at concentrations warranting further investigation” on the Livermore-Pleasanton Fireplace Division Fireplace Coaching Middle in Pleasanton, in response to the board.
A January report from the state carried out by Integral Consulting discovered that a number of websites surrounding the power at 3301 Busch Rd. all contained PFAS contaminants in groundwater samples. The very best concentrations of contaminants have been discovered on the west aspect of the coaching facility, and the bottom degree of contaminants have been discovered 400 toes from the location’s coaching tower, in response to the report.
The U.S. Environmental Safety Company permits contamination as much as 4 elements to 10 elements per trillion, additionally notated as ng/L, in groundwater, relying on the chemical, whereas the samples examined on the coaching facility examined properly above that, reaching ranges a whole bunch of instances higher than allowed.
The report particulars contaminants have been discovered at ranges of 260 ng/L of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), 3,500 ng/L of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), 1,100 ng/L of perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS), and a pair of,100 ng/L of 6:2 fluorotelomersulfonic acid (FTS).
Publicity to those without end chemical substances can have dangerous well being results, corresponding to decreased fertility in pregnant ladies, developmental delays in youngsters, elevated threat of most cancers, and extra, in response to the EPA.
Different websites beneath investigation embody hearth stations 1, 3 and 5. Extra info is predicted later this yr.
”There’s much more work that must be accomplished on this,” Livermore Mayor John Marchand, who spent his profession as a water high quality chemist, mentioned in an interview with this information group. “It’s important to identify where it’s actually coming from so then you can actually remediate it.”
In 2022, Pleasanton shut down its final three wells.
Final week, town completed drilling for doable new wells at three websites, together with at Hansen Park. Over the previous few months, town has additionally drilled over 700 toes down at Del Prado and Tennis and Group parks.
If the brand new wells show unsuitable for metropolis use, town has a contingency plan designed for rehabilitation. A feasibility research on the doable new wells is predicted to come back out as early as April. This summer season, Pleasanton may begin designing a brand new regional properly system.
Pleasanton loses about 679,000 gallons of water per day due to its outdated water system, town mentioned. That equates to a median of 30.9 gallons a day for every of its 22,0000 clients.
Officers mentioned that quantity of water loss is what the state permits, nevertheless Pleasanton is predicted to enhance that fee to about 18 gallons per day per buyer. Town has budgeted $19 million for water enchancment initiatives, corresponding to refurbishing its pipelines and putting in a brand new booster station — initiatives that are anticipated to be accomplished by the top of the yr, in response to town’s web site.
The brand new booster station is predicted to enhance water stress for Pleasanton residents at Turnout 4, which was in-built 1980 and at its peak efficiency pushed out 4,500 gallons per minute. It now does beneath 1,000 gallons per minute, in response to town. The brand new station ought to meet future calls for of as much as 5,200 gallons per minute, officers mentioned.
Town at present buys its water from Alameda County’s Tri-Valley water company, Zone 7, and distributes it by itself.
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