State Issues Violations To Sandy City For Fluoride Incident
Mar 7, 2019, 9:35 PM | Updated: 9:37 pm
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The Utah Department of Environmental Quality has issued Sandy City three violations and an administrative order after excess fluoride in part of the city’s water system caused copper and lead to leach into some people’s drinking water.
The department issued one violation for fluoride in excess of the maximum contaminant level.
They issued another violation because they said the city’s public notice efforts did not fully comply with the requirements given by the director of the Utah Division of Drinking Water.
The department issued a third violation because they said the city did not submit a fluoride sample to the state showing 151.5 mg/L taken on February 7 until February 23.
“There’s always going to be some questions that will never quite be answered of why things happened the way they did. We’re still getting information and details back and we’ll keep looking and try to put together a full timeline of what happened and why,” said Marie Owens, the director of the Utah Division of Drinking Water.
Owens also issued an administrative order to the city requiring them to, among other things, sample their water much more frequently than is typical.
Owens said most cities are on a reduced monitoring waiver that allows them to sample every three years.
Sandy will be required to collect 60 samples (including 30 from the zones affected by the fluoride incident) every quarter.
“Quarterly allows us to monitor those transitions throughout the year. We’ll be looking at all of that data and if that all comes back clean and within the limits, then Sandy can request to go back on reduced monitoring again,” Owens said.
Owens’ order also revoked the city’s operating permit for the Paradise Valley Fluoridation Facility, which malfunctioned and put excess fluoride into the water, until the city conducts an investigation into the cause of the fluoride incident.
