Arsenic limits may be costly

BOISE – State adoption of federally mandated limits on arsenic in public drinking water systems will have a significant effect on small communities throughout Idaho, including a handful in Kootenai, Bonner and Boundary counties.

Officials estimate the financial impact at $40 million statewide, but they say it could be heaviest in Elmore, Gem, Owyhee and Washington counties in southwestern Idaho and Jefferson County in eastern Idaho, where arsenic levels are highest.

Coeur d’Alene is affected because its Hanley Avenue well has higher levels of arsenic than the new limits allow. The city has already solved the problem by drilling a new $700,000 well at Atlas and Prairie avenues that will start operating next spring, said Water Superintendent Jim Markley.

The city will continue to use the Hanley well as a backup, such as in the hot summer months when the water demand is highest.

The Whiskey Jack Water System east of Sandpoint has put in a treatment system to filter out the arsenic, as has the Curley Creek Water Association in Boundary County, said Steve Tanner, DEQ’s North Idaho drinking water program supervisor.

“We don’t have a big problem here,” he said.

The Lynnwood Estates water system near Athol and the Shadow Mountain Springs system east of Sandpoint are the only two other systems in the five northern counties that need to potentially do something to reduce arsenic levels, Tanner said.

The new standards for public water systems were adopted this week by the Board of Environmental Quality. At least 130 public water systems statewide will need significant upgrades by January 2006. Those could run from $100,000 to more than $1 million.

Excessive consumption of the naturally occurring element has been linked to a number of illnesses including lung and prostate cancer. Levels in water can fluctuate due to drought, geology or use of groundwater for irrigation.

The state had until year’s end to adopt the standard of 10 parts of arsenic in every 1 billion parts of water. By comparison, the city of Castleford in south-central Idaho has been struggling with expensive options to upgrade its water system because the current one has an arsenic level of 22 parts per billion.

Some grants are available to help cover the cost, but at least some of it will be paid for by consumers, and that has officials concerned.

“If you were a consumer, it can be anywhere from $25 to $165 a month,” state regulatory analyst Jerri Henry said.

The state is only doing what the federal government has mandated, she said. “It’s no more or less stringent than the federal rule.”