March 17, 2010 - Denver Water’s job is to provide safe, clean drinking water to our customers and to protect public health. We take that charge very seriously, and we are extremely distressed that a recent Fox 31 news story has created unnecessary fear and concern among residents near our Foothills Treatment Plant in Roxborough. It is irresponsible to lead people to believe they are in danger when they are not. Our citizens deserve accurate information and this statement addresses incorrect information in the story.
We want the community near Foothills Treatment Plant to know the air is safe, the drinking water is safe and the ground water is safe.
Background:
A few former Denver Water employees have made vague claims that years ago they buried cement-asbestos (CA) pipe somewhere on the 600-acre Foothills Treatment Plant property.
These allegations are the latest in a series of accusations raised by these former employees who first surfaced with claims in August 2008 when they threatened to “go public” unless Denver Water paid them substantial amounts of money. While we did not give in to their demands, we agreed that if they provided details about their claims, we would conduct a thorough investigation. To date, they have not provided Denver Water with any details that would help us investigate. Without specific information, random site testing would be a waste of ratepayers’ money.
Important Facts:
- CA pipe:
- The kind of asbestos most commonly referenced is “friable” asbestos, which is defined by EPA as asbestos that can be reduced to dust by hand pressure. The asbestos in CA pipe is not friable; it is bound up in the cement and is solid and hard. CA pipe is not a hazardous waste.
- Former employees’ health:
- These former employees have claimed their work for Denver Water caused them health problems. Like other employees in Colorado, these individuals are covered by the state-mandated worker’s compensation system. This system determines work-related injuries and, if appropriate, provides compensation for them. We have encouraged and provided instruction for these former employees to file worker’s comp claims.
- Because of privacy laws, we cannot disclose more details, except to say that no claims are pending.
- The air near Foothills and Roxborough is safe:
- Buried CA pipe is not a cause for concern, because it cannot become airborne unless disturbed. Asbestos fibers are not able to move through soil.
- Even though buried CA pipe would not present any danger, we understood the school might be concerned as a result of filming by the TV crew. As a precaution, the morning before the story aired, Denver Water engaged an independent industrial hygienist to analyze air quality samples taken at the boundary of the Foothills property, near the school. Those samples did not detect any asbestos. The report on these tests is available.
- The drinking water is safe:
- Denver Water provides water that meets all federal and state drinking water regulations. We never have detected asbestos in our drinking water at Foothills Treatment Plant.
- Denver Water’s system relies on surface water from streams, not “groundwater” from underground. The water treated at Foothills Treatment Plant is piped from a mountain reservoir directly into the plant.
- CA pipes are safe for carrying water. Nearly every major utility in the country has such pipe in the ground. Denver Water stopped using CA pipe for new installations in the mid-1980s, but CA pipe can still be purchased in the U.S.
- The ground water is safe:
- Asbestos is not soluble in water, does not move in soil, and therefore would not contaminate ground water.
- The document showing asbestos clean-up at Foothills Treatment Plant:
- This work involved asbestos encountered during a 2009 maintenance project in an isolated portion of the treatment plant, not in service at the time. No asbestos was released to the outside. This incident was similar to what might happen during construction in an older house, where asbestos might be present. This had nothing to do with the claims made by the former employees that they buried CA pipe on the grounds 20 years ago. The work was not done in secret and was discussed openly at a public meeting of Denver’s Board of Water Commissioners. The document was made available to all in attendance.
- The document in question is a public document available on Denver Water’s website. It was an agenda item for a Board meeting requesting payment for cleanup of the asbestos detected inside the treatment plant.
- As is required by law, whenever we encounter a substance that is regulated, we notified the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and received the required permits for the clean-up work, which was completed by an abatement contractor in April 2009.
- Drainage pipe:
- The storm-water diversion pipes near the edge of Denver Water’s property referenced in the news story were constructed to divert storm-water away from nearby homes and to comply with Colorado storm-water drainage regulations.
- Even if CA pipe was in the soil, asbestos does not move in soil, so the collection of storm-water does not pose any risk.
- Digging at Foothills Treatment Plant:
- When water enters the Treatment Plant from a stream or reservoir, it contains lots of organic material and other substances that must be removed to produce drinking water. The solids removed from the raw water are known as “treatment residuals.”
- Denver Water operates a landfill at Foothills that has been approved by CDPHE and Douglas County to dispose of the water treatment residuals.
- The digging that can be observed at Foothills involves excavations necessary bury the treatment residuals in the permitted landfill.
- Before burying the residuals in the landfill, the excess water must be removed, which is done on large sand drying beds located close to the Treatment Plant. The sand for the drying beds needs to be replenished on a regular basis. Sand is being trucked in now from a quarry for future use. As many as 12 truckloads a day will be arriving through most of April.
- The dried residuals are then transported by truck from the drying beds to the landfill.
- To obtain the permits, plans and drawings were submitted to CDPHE and Douglas County, and were approved following a public process.
- The only materials buried in the landfill are treatment residuals.
- The landfill is inspected by CDPHE and Douglas County every year.
- The Denver Water crews doing the work at the site are trained in protocols that they follow in the event they find something unexpected.
Denver Water places a high priority on the safety of the public and our employees. We have an obligation to investigate any potential claims and an equally strong obligation to fight frivolous allegations. We continue our attempts to obtain specific information from these former employees in order to investigate their claims. When we have details, we will investigate.