Groups File Suit Against DPH To Hasten Limit on Drinking Water Chemical

California's Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and the Natural Resources Defense Council have filed a lawsuit against the state Department of Public Health for not acting faster to set a standard for a toxic chemical found in Southern California's drinking water, KPCC's "KPCC News" reports.

Background

State law required officials to set an enforceable limit on hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium six, eight years ago.

Sarah Janssen -- an NRDC scientist -- said that the chemical is a known carcinogen that also can cause:

• Liver toxicity;
• Reproductive problems;
• Respiratory damage; and
• Stomach lesions.

DPH began developing a limit for the chemical only after the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment last year recommended setting the standard for hexavalent chromium at two hundredths of a part per billion.

DPH said it plans to have a draft limit by next summer and a final rule on the limit a year or two later.

Setting the Limit

Nick Morales -- an NRDC attorney -- said, "We think that the timeline estimated by the department is much too slow."

NRDC said the process for DPH to set a limit is inherently political because it involves a cost-benefit analysis.