On Feb. 2, the Lompoc city manager tried to justify using fees collected to operate and maintain the drinking water utility to pay for homeless camp cleanups in the riverbed by saying that “funding the ongoing costs for cleanup and patrolling from the water enterprise fund would be a legitimate use” because the homeless population and all their litter “sits directly over the city’s potable water source.”
The implication was that the camps were a source of contamination to the water supply.
The staff report did not provide any supporting information for this claim, and even though a citizen had suggested that the council request a history of well water lab analysis for the last 10 years to see if there has been an increase of contaminates that could have come from the camps, not one council member asked for this vital information.
Then on Feb. 16, Mayor Jenelle Osborne appeared on a local TV news program. In the report she was saying that “the riverbed needs to be addressed once again due to concerns over possible city water contamination from hazardous waste.”
In the following days she made similar claims in the print media saying, “This is not about solving a homeless issue, it’s about dealing with the quality of water and the water impacts and the responsibility we have as council to protect that water resource.”
Well, if contamination of the water supply is a concern to city leaders, then it certainly demands some investigation. So, using the information available, I started looking into whether this was or was not a problem of concern for the community.
I started with the city website; in 2018 the water quality report on the water division’s webpage advised that several substances of concern are tested for in the water supply. They included “microbial contaminants, such as viruses and bacteria that may come from sewage treatment plants, septic systems, agricultural livestock operations, and wildlife.”
“Pesticides and herbicides that may come from a variety of sources, such as agriculture, urban stormwater runoff, and residential uses. Organic chemical contaminants, including synthetic and volatile organic chemicals that are by-products of industrial processes and petroleum production, and can also come from gas stations, urban stormwater runoff, agricultural application, and septic systems.”
“Every five years the EPA formulates a new list of possible water contaminants through the unregulated contaminants monitoring rule (UCMR). In 2018, UCMR4 began with testing for cyanotoxins.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) explains that cyanotoxins are “point sources (which may include discharges from municipal and industrial wastewater treatment plants, concentrated animal feeding operations, municipal separate storm sewer systems, stormwater associated with industrial activity, and other) and non-point sources (which may include diffuse runoff from agricultural fields, roads, and stormwater), may be high in nitrogen and phosphorus and can promote or cause excessive fertilization (eutrophication) of both flowing and non-flowing waters.”
More from the 2019 report: “Source water assessments for wells 1 through 9 (in the city limits) and Frick Springs (in Miguelito Canyon) were completed in 2002 and well 11 in 2012. The city’s water sources are considered most vulnerable to the following: sewer collection systems, stormwater drainage points, high density housing, gas stations, auto-body and boat repair shops, dry cleaners, agricultural runoff, agricultural wells, and low-density septic systems.”
You’ll note than none of these contaminates are attributed to homeless camps.
Were any of these contaminates a problem? The latest water quality report on the water division’s webpage is from 2019; they reported that “all of our samples were negative (non-detect) for cyanotoxins. UCMR4 continued in 2019 with testing for two metals, nine pesticides, three semi-volatile organics, three alcohols, and eight disinfection byproducts.”
So even though the camps have been prevalent in the riverbed for decades, there have been no reports of contaminates that exceed the limits established by the U.S. EPA or the California water resources board.
Homeless camps are both a nuisance and a hazard to first responders and members of the public who may stumble upon them while hiking in the riverbed or, for that matter, in the urban area. There have been several fires and assaults and three murders in these camps. The accumulation of trash has returned to the riverbed and needs to be addressed.
But let’s be clear: Based on well water supply test information that is readily available, the water supply for the city of Lompoc is not in any danger because of the camps or any other source of contamination, for that matter.
I think that the mayor and city staff need to choose their words more carefully in the future. Claiming that there is a threat to our water supply as a means of justifying the misallocation of drinking water fees without any supporting data is irresponsible.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send your thoughts, comments, and opinionated letters to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 25 – Mar 4, 2021.