By By Joe Taitano II Pacific Daily News

Copyright guampdn

A request for the military to divert water to residents, grant-funded home treatment, and a possible class action lawsuit are being weighed as 1,112 Yigo households cope with being unable to cook or drink water coming out of their tap due to contamination.

Utilities oversight chairman Sen. Jesse Lujan on Tuesday said he’s asking the heads of the local military command if they can divert water from Andersen Air Force Base to residents facing pesticide contamination in the Santa Rosa area of Yigo.

Yigo Mayor Frances Lizama said her office is actively delivering water to the elderly and disabled residents who can’t haul their own water from tankers stationed in the area.

Lizama said the Yigo mayor’s office is working to clear up confusion from residents in the area, some of whom either did not receive a notice about the contamination or may have received one in error.

Affected residents could get point-of-use treatment for their homes, Guam Waterworks Authority General Manager Miguel Bordallo said at a Tuesday night Consolidated Commission on Utilities meeting.

Bordallo said GWA is working with the U.S. Environmental Protection on the matter.

GWA on Monday was served with a notice of intent to sue on behalf of families affected by the contamination.

The Pacific Daily News obtained a copy of the notice, sent by the Camacho & Taitano LLP law firm.

Guam Department of Education spokesperson Damen Borja said filters were installed at affected Upi Elementary School and water is being monitored there.

Known to cause cancer

Water customers in the Santa Rosa area of Yigo got notices from GWA on Sept. 12, indicating water in the well serving them contained high concentrations of banned pesticide dieldrin, which is known to cause cancer.

Customers served by well Y-15 are impacted.

That’s mostly residents living south of the back gate to Andersen off Route 15, but also some areas near the front gate of the base up to Chalan Emsley, according to a map provided by the Yigo mayor.

Concentrations of the pesticide were about eight times higher than the level where GWA must issue a “do not drink without treatment” advisory.

Lujan, the utility oversight chair, on Tuesday said the military is testing its own water in response to the advisories.

If water at Andersen is free of dieldrin, Lujan said both Joint Region Marianas Rear Adm. Brett Mietus and head of Joint Task Force Micronesia Rear Adm. Joshua Lasky are receptive to diverting water to serve them.

Lujan said it’s unclear if that is even possible.

“There’s still a lot of unknowns at this point that, you know, I wish I could answer the questions, but we don’t know,” he said.

He said GWA is installing filters for the well, but that will take until June next year.

GWA’s Bordallo said a construction contract for the well treatment was already issued on Tuesday.

The contractor got a notice to proceed, and had already started some of the preliminary work. Updates on the progress would come out later this week, Bordallo said.

An immediate fix is needed, Lujan said, and he’s asking GWA and the military to work 24/7 on the problem until a fix is found.

Home treatment

GWA’s Bordallo said that waterworks and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had discussed the possible use of grant funds to give residents point-of-use treatment systems on Tuesday.

“We have that kind of laid out, and we will be providing a written process to confirm that with US EPA for their review,” he said.

Once done, eligibility requirements and details about reimbursements for customers that purchase and install the systems could be laid out.

He said they’ve also asked the US EPA to expedite the purchase of whole house point of use treatment systems that GWA could help install and maintain.

Bordallo also told the CCU that Yigo residents had asked for a credit on their water bills during a town hall last week.

“If the board is open to that, then we can put something together,” he said.

Mayor: Precautionary measures

Yigo Mayor Lizama said there is still confusion from residents about the contamination.

She said her office has a list of the 1,112 homes that are affected, which residents can come and review.

“What we’re finding out is some of these residents who did not receive the notice, their names are on the list…vice versa, they’re not on the list, but they received the notice,” Lizama said.

She said her office is advising residents to take precautionary measures with the water in their homes.

Confusion persists over the water, she said, with some wondering whether they can brush their teeth or water their plants.

Lizama said she is also asking for more water tankers to be installed around the affected area, as residents without transportation are unable to easily access clean water.

Those that are either too old to haul their own water or disabled should call the Yigo Mayor’s Office for help, Lizama said.

The number to call is (671) 653-5248.

Seeking a town hall

Lizama said she is trying to get another town hall meeting organized so GWA, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency and others can inform residents about the situation.

Residents were advised by GWA at a town hall last week to keep any receipts if they install an at-home filter, but Lizama said the financial impact is a concern for many, on top of worries about their health.

“This is a health issue. You know, some residents may already have previous health issues,” she said.

At Upi Elementary School, data is being sifted to provide accurate data about sickness rates among staff and students, GDOE spokesperson Borja said Tuesday.

“As of right now, I can make the comment that staff, students, and faculty have not seen a higher rate of sickness at Upi compared to other schools,” Borja said.

According to Borja, GDOE was informed about contamination at the Y-15 well on Sept. 10 by GWA, Guam EPA, and the Department of Public Health and Social Services.

Following the meeting, the school was instructed not to use sinks, faucets, or any other source of water, and to cease using kitchen water for food prep or dish washing.

“GWA assessed Upi Elementary School then installed filters the following day, Sept. 11, that were rated to filter out the contaminant on all drinking water sources,” Borja said.

Parents were informed via email and letters, and a Parent Teacher Organization meeting was hosted on Sept. 18.

Notice of intent to sue

Timing of efforts by GWA to address dieldrin in the northern well is flagged by the notice of intent to sue, signed by attorney Shannon Taitano and former attorney general Leevin Camacho, who run a law firm together.

A Guam EPA requirement for families to be notified of dieldrin contamination went into effect on Aug. 1.

But concentrations of the water in wells was reported publicly by the Pacific Daily News as early as December 2023, and GWA had plans to treat well Y-15 approved this past May.

A notice of intent to sue from the Camacho & Taitano firm demands several documents from GWA:

A plan for adequate notice to affected communities, beyond mail serviceA timeline and commitment on providing bottled water or point-of-use filters to affected familiesA plan for monthly water testing and public reporting of contamination levelsA detailed timeline for installing treatment systemsRegular updates to affected familiesAn estimate of people who consumed water from the wells

The notice of intent to sue acknowledges some positive efforts to deal with contamination, but pointed to reports of GWA installing water systems from back in 2023.

“If tangible progress and real commitments are not made, we will be forced to file suit in the Superior Court of Guam and, if necessary, in federal court to protect families who deserve safe drinking water,” the letter stated.

CCU Chairman Francis Santos acknowledged the potential suit at the commission’s meeting Tuesday night.

“Hopefully we can avoid that. We don’t need an additional issue on that, but we’ll go ahead and obviously abide with the (record) request and submit the information as requested,” Santos said.

He asked Bordallo to update the CCU on progress when they come back for a meeting next Tuesday.

In Yigo, Mayor Lizama said that she herself received notice on Sept. 10 about the water contamination.

She said the concern goes beyond just the families whose homes are affected.

“It’s not only in Yigo, you know. And although the notice says Yigo, but the produce that we give out, the food that we give, things that we sell,” were all affected, she said.

Lujan shared a similar sentiment.

“It’s really not just an issue for residents of Yigo. This is a Guam issue,” Lujan said. “It could very well be anywhere else.”

GWA has plans to install filtration at the Y-15 well, at a cost of $6.4 million.

2023 investigation

Guam EPA first announced an investigation into higher than usual levels of dieldrin in Guam water back in 2023.

Staff have speculated that increasing development could be releasing the contaminant into the water table.

Dieldrin has been banned since the 1980s, but isn’t federally regulated.

As a result, Guam EPA approved an “interim action level” for the contaminant, which took effect Aug. 1.

GWA this weekend said that since 2007, information on all water quality test results, including dieldrin, has been included in its annual Water Quality Report, which is mailed annually and available on its website.

The agency stated that it monitors and reports all federally regulated contaminants subject to sampling and analysis by the U.S. EPA’s National Primary and Secondary Drinking Water Regulations, and unregulated contaminants subject to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule implemented under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Starting in 2023, in response to Guam EPA’s work to evaluate the risk of this pesticide, specific information on dieldrin was included in the annual water quality reports received by GWA customers.