P.V. mayor defends water company after scare

Arizona American Water Co., the private utility responsible for two recent water contamination scares, shouldn’t be carved up into pieces by Scottsdale and Paradise Valley, Paradise Valley Mayor Ed Winkler said Friday.

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Rather, the city and town should work cooperatively to come up with a solution to ensure long-term water quality, Winkler said.

“I would like to see the two municipalities work together on solving this problem,” he said. “I would not like to see Arizona American taken apart in pieces. I would rather us look at this as a whole system.”

One solution could involve shifting service for the roughly 3,500 Arizona American customers in Paradise Valley to the municipal water systems of either Scottsdale or Phoenix, said Town Manager Jim Bacon.

The Scottsdale City Council on Tuesday ordered a study to delineate the city’s options in guaranteeing that the roughly 1,200 Arizona American customers in Scottsdale have safe water in the future, including the possibility of shifting those customers over to the city’s water supply.

That shift could entail condemning or buying out a portion of Arizona American’s system, or installing pipes to hook those customers up to the city system, Scottsdale officials have said.

Bacon said Paradise Valley officials have asked Scottsdale to take Paradise Valley residents into account when deciding how to go forward. The two municipalities could then coordinate their efforts.

“We would like them to include our customers, as well,” he said. “It’s one service area that’s divided by a municipal boundary.”

Officials from both communities have said they intend to look at a range of options for improving water quality oversight, with potential acquisition of the utility being among the alternatives.

Todd Walker, Arizona American spokesman, said the utility is willing to work with the municipalities to provide them information and address their concerns. However, he said, “The system is not for sale.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials said Thursday that Arizona American’s Miller Road Treatment Facility, the site of the contamination, will remain closed indefinitely. The plant will reopen when officials are confident that equipment that removes trichloroethylene, or TCE, from groundwater pumped at the plant meets safety standards, EPA officials have said.

Water pumped and treated at the plant is blended into the company’s water supply. The EPA recently released a statement saying that Arizona American customers may have been exposed to water containing TCE levels at approximately 20 parts per billion after a mechanical failure Jan. 16, quadrupling the maximum allowable level of 5 ppb.

The breakdown allowed tainted water to continue to be processed for up to 16 hours overnight. The system that was supposed to alert workers of an equipment breakdown failed, the company said.

The incident led to a recommendation that all of Arizona American’s customers on the system switch to drinking bottled water for four days, ending Jan. 19.

Arizona American had a previous TCE leak in October, but at the time, the company said the tainted water was blended with TCE-free water, lowering TCE concentrations to within federal mandates.

Upcoming hearings:

- On Feb. 7, U.S. Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., plans to discuss Arizona American Water Co. contamination issues during a meeting of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

- On Feb. 13, the Arizona Corporation Commission, the agency charged with oversight of utilities in the state, is slated to discuss launching a formal investigation into Arizona American’s safety standards and customer notification process. The investigation could lead to fines or sanctions, commission members have said.