FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Scott Bradway, Portland Water Bureau (503) 823-1951
PORTLAND, OR — The Portland Water Bureau today submitted a detailed request for a treatment variance to the federal and state requirements of the Long Term 2 Enhanced Surface Water Treatment Rule (LT2). The request, submitted to the Oregon Health Authority Drinking Water Program, provides substantial data and analysis in support of the assertion that treatment to address the parasite Cryptosporidium in Portland’s drinking water is unnecessary due to the nature of the City’s Bull Run source. If the variance is granted, Portland will be able to avoid the costs of building a water treatment facility to comply with the LT2 rule.
“No Cryptosporidium was detected during an intensive water sampling program totaling thousands of liters of water making up hundreds of samples,” said Water Bureau Administrator David Shaff. “The Water Bureau has clearly demonstrated that the Bull Run water source is of such high quality that no treatment for Cryptosporidium is necessary to protect public health”
The LT2 rule focuses on reducing the risks of Cryptosporidium, a chlorine-resistant protozoan parasite that has been found in surface waters worldwide. Cryptosporidium contamination can come from any source of fecal matter including domestic animals, wastewater treatment plant discharges, and wild animals; however, sources from people and cattle pose the highest risk of infecting humans.
Portland’s request shows that the circumstances of the Bull Run watershed—with its stringent federal and local protections, a natural environment that limits contamination, an absence of the typical highest risk Cryptosporidium sources, and low Cryptosporidium occurrence in wildlife—significantly limit the risk of Cryptosporidium exposure from the water source.
Portland Water Bureau staff, working with several international experts from multiple disciplines, developed the variance request over the last five months following a year–long intensive water monitoring program for the Bull Run that detected zero instances of Cryptosporidium. The monitoring results serve as the central basis for Portland’s variance request and substantiate the effectiveness of the Bull Run watershed in limiting Cryptosporidium from entering the drinking water source.
The technical information submitted with the request provides the details of the testing program, including the locations and timing of testing, and describes additional field work and analysis that characterize the conditions in the Bull Run watershed that account for the consistent non-detection of Cryptosporidium in Bull Run water.
The request also presents public health data about infection from Cryptosporidium in the Portland Water Bureau service area and the lack of any documented transmission of the pathogen through drinking water. This data, along with details of the protected nature of the Bull Run source led to important conclusions from a panel of national public health experts. The panel found that the data collection conducted by the Portland Water Bureau had been extremely thorough and adding treatment for the Bull Run would not likely result in measurable improvement to public heath.
If the State Drinking Water Program grants a variance, federal and state regulations require ongoing monitoring. The Water Bureau has proposed a monitoring program as part of its request based on the input of a panel of utility, regulatory and microbiology experts, as well as input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Implementation of a monitoring program such as the one proposed by the Water Bureau will provide an ongoing assessment of Cryptosporidium in the Bull Run and a means for state regulators to evaluate the ongoing basis for a variance.
Portland anticipates a decision on its request from the State Drinking Water Program by the end of the calendar year. If its variance request is not approved, the Water Bureau will proceed with construction of an ultraviolet water treatment plant to address Cryptosporidium. The LT2 rule requires such facilities to be complete and in operation by April 1, 2014.
To access the variance request document, please visit the Water Bureau website at www.portlandonline.com/water/LT2VarianceRequest.
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