By Paul Alleva, chronline
The city of Chehalis will have no problem meeting the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's new standard for allowable arsenic concentrations in drinking water, the city's water superintendent told the Chehalis City Council Monday.
Mark Petrie told the council that in January 2001, the EPA lowered the maximum contaminant level for arsenic from 50 parts per billion, a standard set in 1975, to 10 parts per billion.
Chehalis residents get their drinking water from the North Fork of the Newaukum River and from the Chehalis River, and that water exceeds the EPAs new arsenic standard, according to Petrie.
"Our levels are less than 10 parts per billion," he said.
The Longview engineering firm Gibbs and Olson, after analyzing the level of arsenic in the city's source waters, has concluded that workers at the city's water treatment plant will need to make only minor changes at a minimal cost to reduce the arsenic level below 10 parts per billion, he said.
"We should be able to reduce (the arsenic level) below three parts per billion," Petrie said.
Cities will not be required to comply with the new standard until January of 2006, he said.
Paul Alleva covers municipal government and public issues for The Chronicle. He may be reached by e-mail at palleva@chronline.com or by calling 807-8239
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