COMMUNICATING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO THE PUBLIC

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1 COMMUNICATING ENVIRONMENTAL RISKS TO THE PUBLIC June 20, 2018 Dennis McQuillan Chief Scientist New Mexico Environment Department

2 Communication Issues Contaminants, multiple or single nomenclature measurement units; dissolved versus total valence states standards and guidelines background Affected media Exposure pathways and durations Options for corrective action Limited English proficiency 2

3 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances Are contaminants and pollutants synonymous? 3

4 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances N.M. Water Quality Act water contaminant means any substance that could alter, if discharged or spilled, the physical, chemical, biological or radiological qualities of water water pollution means introducing or permitting the introduction into water, either directly or indirectly, of one of more water contaminants in such quantity and of such duration as may with reasonable probability injure human health, animal or plant life or property, or to unreasonably interfere with the public welfare or the use of property 4

5 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances Federal Safe Drinking Water Act The term contaminant means any physical, chemical, biological, or radiological substance or matter in water. Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL), Contaminant Candidate List, Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR) 5

6 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances Federal Clean Water Act (Water Pollution Control Act) The term "pollutant" means dredged spoil, solid waste, incinerator residue, sewage, garbage, sewage sludge, munitions, chemical wastes, biological materials, radioactive materials, heat, wrecked or discarded equipment, rock, sand, cellar dirt and industrial, municipal, and agricultural waste discharged into water. The term "toxic pollutant" means those pollutants, or combinations of pollutants, including disease-causing agents, which after discharge and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will, on the basis of information available to the Administrator, cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutations, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring. The term "pollution" means the man-made or man-induced alteration of the chemical, physical, biological, and radiological integrity of water. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 6

7 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances Federal Comprehensive Environmental Response Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) Superfund The term pollutant or contaminant shall include, but not be limited to, any element, substance, compound, or mixture, including disease-causing agents, which after release into the environment and upon exposure, ingestion, inhalation, or assimilation into any organism, either directly from the environment or indirectly by ingestion through food chains, will or may reasonably be anticipated to cause death, disease, behavioral abnormalities, cancer, genetic mutation, physiological malfunctions (including malfunctions in reproduction) or physical deformations, in such organisms or their offspring; except that the term pollutant or contaminant shall not include petroleum 7

8 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances Superfund also defines hazardous substance Federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) defines solid waste and hazardous waste Federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) defines chemical substance 8

9 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances TSCA Chemical substance means any organic or inorganic substance of a particular molecular identity, including any combination of such substances occurring in whole or in part as a result of a chemical reaction or occurring in nature, and any chemical element or uncombined radical, except that chemical substance does not include: (1) Any mixture. (2) Any pesticide when manufactured, processed, or distributed in commerce for use as a pesticide. (3) Tobacco or any tobacco product. (4) Any source material, special nuclear material, or byproduct material. (5) Any pistol, firearm, revolver, shells, or cartridges. (6) Any food, food additive, drug, cosmetic, or device, when manufactured, processed, or distributed in commerce for use as a food, food additive, drug, cosmetic, or device. Mixture means any combination of two or more chemical substances if the combination does not occur in nature and is not, in whole or in part, the result of a chemical reaction; except mixture does include (1) any combination which occurs, in whole or in part, as a result of a chemical reaction if the combination could have been manufactured for commercial purposes without a chemical reaction at the time the chemical substances comprising the combination were combined, and if all of the chemical substances comprising the combination are not new chemical substances 9

10 Contaminants, Pollutants, Substances RCRA The term solid waste means any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material resulting from industrial, commercial, mining, and agricultural operations, and from community activities 10

11 Chemical Nomenclature As = arsenic Chromium = Cr Cr III = trivalent chromium Cr VI = hexavalent chromium Fe = iron Pb = lead Isotopes 1,2-dibromoethane = ethylene dibromide = EDB Nitrogen, nitrate, nitrate-n, nitrite, nitrite-n, ammonia, ionized ammonia, ammonium, total kjeldahl nitrogen 11

12 Measurement Units Water Milligrams per liter = mg/l = parts per million = ppm Micrograms per liter = ug/l = parts per billion =ppb Vapor Milligrams per liter = mg/l, not = ppm Microliter per liter = ul/l = parts per million by volume = ppmv Soil Milligrams per kilogram = mg/kg = ppm 12

13 Dissolved versus Total Water Contaminants Total contaminants: no sample filtration Drinking water standards are based on total contaminants Dissolved contaminants: sample filtered through 0.45 µm porous membrane Some ground and surface water standards are based on dissolved contaminants Some wells, particularly monitoring wells, produce water with significant turbidity This turbidity can contain suspended metals such as iron, manganese, aluminum, arsenic that originate from sediment near the well screen, are not mobile in groundwater, and do not originate from contaminant discharges 13

14 Animas River Watershed System 14 Human Exposure Pathways Drinking surface or groundwater Swimming/boating Sediment exposure Ingestion of crops, livestock, fish, wildlife Airborne dust

15 Many Families Live Along the Animas River Cedar Hill, NM Residents have the river in their back yard, drink groundwater from alluvial wells, irrigate fruits and vegetables, and eat fish from the river. 15

16 Water Quality Standards of Interest in the Animas and San Juan Watersheds 16

17 Standards 17 and Guidelines for Lead Media Drinking Water Groundwater Surface Water, Aquatic Life, Acute Surface Water, Aquatic Life, Chronic Surface Water, Irrigation Surface Water, Livestock Watering Soil, Residential Soil, Industrial Soil, Flora Soil, Invertebrates Soil, Birds Soil, Mammals Concentration mg/l (total) 0.05 mg/l (dissolved) 0.14 mg/l (dissolved) mg/l (dissolved) 5 mg/l (dissolved) 0.1 mg/l (dissolved) 400 mg/kg 800 mg/kg 120 mg/kg 1,700 mg/kg 11 mg/kg 56 mg/kg Air, Residential 0.15 µg/m 3 Food, Corn and Fruiting Vegetables Food, Cattle, Pigs and Sheep Food, Fish Children s Blood 0.05 mg/kg 0.1 mg/kg 0.3 mg/kg 5 µg/dl

18 Holistic Assessment of Risks If possible, investigate and address all contaminants even if they do not originate from the site of interest. GKM: Primary contaminants of concern are metals released by acid rock/mine drainage, and mill tailings Significant pre-spill background issues Contaminants not related to acid rock/mine drainage include PCBs in fish, nitrate and bacteria in river water and drinking water, biogenic and thermogenic gas in groundwater 18

19 Communicating Risk Legal, regulatory and bureaucratic distinctions are not important to general public. Try to communicate using simple terms that directly address questions and concerns by the public. Can I drink my well water? Boiling water kills bacteria, but increases arsenic. 19

20 Animas and San Juan Exposure and Risk Dashboard (Updated May 19, 2017) mas-san-juan-risk- Dashboard.pdf 20

21 Animas and San Juan Exposure and Risk Dashboard 21

22 Agricultural Fact Sheet Additional efforts, and funding, needed to counter unjustified stigma about crops grown in Animas Valley and San Juan County. 22