A landscape at the Chino Basin Water Conservation District in Montclair on Friday, May 21, 2021. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG)
By ERIN BROCKOVICH | UPDATED: September 22, 2021 at 10:39 a.m
The predominant source of drinking water in the Chino Basin of the Inland Empire has been an issue for decades.
Contaminants impacting the drinking water are from both point and non-point sources.
A point source as an example would be the GE Flat Iron Plant or the Ontario Airport Industrial Park; while a non-point source would be from agricultural runoff or septic systems.
Water utilities in the Chino Basin have been on top of groundwater contamination and treatment for many years either providing direct wellhead treatment or collaborating by forming the Chino Desalter Authority where advanced water treatment systems centrally treat enormous quantities of water.
Both sources of contamination of the local resources has cost consumers billions of dollars to clean.
While contaminant point sources have been identified, isolated and are being cleaned up, and agricultural runoff has been regulated and contained, nothing has been done to remove old failing septic systems in the valley.
In 2018, Inland Empire Utilities Agency identified thousands of septic systems contaminating the drinking water source in the Chino Basin. The United States Environmental Protection Agency has identified the No. 1 source of groundwater pollution as nitrate and the number one source as septic systems.
Pregnant women exposed to too much nitrate in their drinking water are at greater risk of giving birth prematurely, according to a Stanford University study of more than 1.4 million California births.
The researchers used public data on nitrate levels in local drinking water systems at the mothers’ homes to estimate their nitrate exposures during each pregnancy.
Some women in the study had the same exposures for multiple pregnancies, whereas other women were exposed to different nitrate levels, either because the amount in their local drinking water changed, or because they moved between pregnancies.
Compared with women exposed to the lowest nitrate level of less than 5 milligrams per liter, the odds of spontaneous preterm birth occurring nine or more weeks early was 47% higher in women exposed to 5-10 milligrams per liter, and 252% higher in women exposed to more than 10 milligrams per liter in drinking water.
The strongest effects of nitrate on prematurity risk were seen in California’s agricultural regions, including the San Joaquin Valley and the Inland Empire, the study noted.
There is good news on the horizon however, recently the Monte Vista Water District which provides water utility service to unincorporated San Bernardino County community between Montclair and Chino has stepped up to provide sewer collection services cutting off contamination at its source.
Monte Vista Water District, as a county water district, is authorized to provide sewer collection service but is required to seek authorization from the San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission to turn these powers on.
I would like to personally thank Monte Vista Water District’s Board of Directors and staff for taking on this task and ask the Local Agency Formation Commission to do everything within its power to expedite this incredibly important authorization.
Time is valuable … don’t waste it.
Erin Brockovich is a consumer advocate and environmental activist.