19 of 21 Patch.com Communities Have Drinking Water Toxin Made Famous By Erin Brockovich

WISCONSIN -- A new study has revealed that 19 of 21 Patch communities (and almost all communities in Wisconsin) contain Chromium, a cancer-causing toxin in their drinking water that was made famous in the 2000 Julia Roberts movie "Erin Brockovich," according to a new study published Tuesday by the Environmental Working Group (see list below).

Although the water provided by local agencies do not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection's maximum of 100 parts per billion of total chromium, it does exceed 0.02 parts per billion, a level that California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment set as a public health goal in 2011, the study explains. That level "would pose negligible risk over a lifetime of consumption," according to the study.

The toxin Chromium-6 causes cancer, reproductive problems and liver damage even from little exposure, the report says.

California's public health goal was set after Brockovich was nearly successful in building a case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) of California in 1993 that blamed the company for contaminating local water.

The Environmental Working Group, a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to protecting human health and the environment, analyzed federal data from nationwide drinking water tests showing that the compound contaminates water supplies for more than 200 million Americans in all 50 states.

"Yet federal regulations are stalled by a chemical industry challenge that could mean no national regulation of a chemical state scientists in California and elsewhere say causes cancer when ingested at even extraordinarily low levels," according to the report.

EWG estimates that if left untreated, Chromium-6 in tap water will cause more than 12,000 excess cases of cancer by the end of the century.

Here is the list of towns, and water commissions and countywide agencies, that exceeded the report's acceptable level of Chromium-6 in tap water (0.02 parts per billion) 2013-2015 results:

Brookfield:
Samples: 44
Detects: 0
Average : 0.0 ppb
Range: 0.0-0.0 ppb

Brown Deer:
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.16 ppb
Range: 0.14-0.18 ppb

Village of Caledonia Water Utility:
Samples: 16
Detects: 16
Average : 0.21 ppb
Range: 0.17-0.26 ppb

Cudahy
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.20 ppb
Range: 0.19-0.21 ppb

Franklin
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.21 ppb
Range: 0.19-0.24 ppb

Glendale:
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.18 ppb
Range: 0.1-0.24 ppb

Greendale
Samples: 16
Detects: 16
Average : 0.19 ppb
Range: 0.14-0.21 ppb

Hudson
Samples: 24
Detects: 10
Average : 0.092 ppb
Range: 0.0-0.34 ppb

Menomonee Falls
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.19 ppb
Range: 0.17-0.22 ppb

Milwauke City
Samples: 16
Detects: 16
Average : 0.22 ppb
Range: 0.19-0.25 ppb

Milwaukee County Grounds:
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.18 ppb
Range: 0.17-0.21 ppb

New Berlin
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.20 ppb
Range: 0.18-0.24 ppb

Oak Creek
Samples: 8
Detects: 7
Average : 0.15 ppb
Range: 0.0-0.23 ppb

Port Washington
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.20 ppb
Range: 0.18-0.22 ppb

Racine Waterworks:
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.20 ppb
Range: 0.16-0.26 ppb

Shorewood
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.18 ppb
Range: 0.16-0.22 ppb

South Milwaukee
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.25 ppb
Range: 0.20-0.35 ppb

Waukesha
Samples: 16
Detects: 0
Average : 0.0 ppb
Range: 0.0-0.0 ppb

Wauwatosa
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.18 ppb
Range: 0.15-0.22 ppb

West Allis
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.20 ppb
Range: 0.17-0.22 ppb

Whitefish Bay
Samples: 8
Detects: 8
Average : 0.18 ppb
Range: 0.14-0.22 ppb

EPA STATEMENT ON CHROMIUM IN DRINKING WATER

Ensuring safe drinking water for all Americans is a top priority for EPA. The agency has taken many actions to improve information on chromium and its potential health risks in drinking water. EPA and states are responsible for ensuring that public water systems are in compliance with the current standard for total chromium.

The agency has also collected nationally representative data on the occurrence of both total chromium and hexavalent chromium through the third Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR3).

EPA is actively working on the development of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of hexavalent chromium, which will include a comprehensive evaluation of potential health effects associated with hexavalent chromium, and EPA expects that the draft IRIS assessment will be released for public comment in 2017.

Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, before EPA can decide whether to regulate a contaminant, it must meet three criteria:

• The contaminant may have an adverse effect on the health of persons;
• is known to occur or there is a substantial likelihood that the contaminant will occur in public water systems with a frequency and at levels of public health concern; and
• in the sole judgment of the EPA Administrator, the regulation of the contaminant presents a meaningful opportunity for health risk reductions for persons served by public water systems.
EPA has a drinking water standard of 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/l) or 100 parts per billion (ppb) for total chromium.

This includes all forms of chromium, including hexavalent chromium. Only one of the almost 5,000 public water systems that monitored total chromium under the UCMR3 reported results that exceeded EPA’s standard.

The State of California has promulgated an enforceable maximum contaminant level of 0.01 mg/l or 10 ppb for hexavalent chromium. While this standard only applies to water systems in California, less than 2 percent of the UCMR3 systems nationally reported hexavalent chromium at levels exceeding this standard.

Tom Davis contributed to this report

Patch file photo