Chromium 6 Rules: Comments Due Aug. 4

By Jondi Gumz

Rulemaking is in progress for state limits on chromium 6 in drinking water.

A hearing is scheduled on Aug. 2.

Written comments are due Aug. 4.

Proposed Maximum Contaminant Level: 10 parts per billion (ppb) (0.01 mg/L)

Proposed Detection Limit for Reporting: 0.1 ppb (0.0001 mg/L)

The current California MCL standard is 50 ppb.

The current federal standard for total chromium is 0.1 mg/l mg/l milligrams per liter or 100 ppb.

The source of chromium 6 can be a discharge of chemical used in industry. It also occurs naturally in the environment from the erosion of natural chromium deposits, which in the case in Soquel Creek Water District.

Asked to comment, the Soquel Creek the importance of bicultural awareness beyond bilingual services.

Mental Health Conclusion

The longstanding and serious staffing shortage at the Behavioral Health Division is a contributing factor to all the issues in this report, such as lack of stepdown capability, services for marginalized groups including homeless persons, those involved with the criminal justice system and racial minorities.

Until the staffing level is significantly improved, expecting improved service in any of these areas is unreasonable.

The Grand Jury typically recommends an increase in funding when an agency has more responsibilities than budget, even while understanding that if there were funding available to increase the budget, this would already have been done.

In this case, however, not only are County residents not getting adequate mental health services, the cost to the County is also higher because patients sometimes need to repeat treatment.

Recommendations

Staffing

Competitive salaries and hiring incentives should be put in place for all vacant Behavioral Health Division (BHD) positions that don’t already have them. The BHD should consider the salaries and hiring incentives offered by Santa Clara County as a guide -- such as hiring bonuses, loan repayment, public service loan repayment, and workforce tuition.

Water District provided this statement: “We have and will continue to be tracking and monitoring the State’s progress with the rulemaking of Chromium6 and the requirements for compliance once in effect. As such, the District has an anticipated a treatment project (both design and construction) to address the State’s potential WQ objective for Chrom-6 within our 10-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) budget. We currently do not use reverse osmosis technology. We will be using that for the Pure Water Soquel project.”

You may have heard of chromium 6 if you saw the film, “Erin Brockovich,” which told the story of groundwater contaminated in Hinkley by PG&E dumping and residents complaining of chronic illnesses. Monitoring the 1996 settlement for $333 million may take 30 to 50 years.

The Personnel Department must plan for increases in salary and incentives by the end of 2023 with the goal of including them in the next budget cycle.

The County Personnel Department should:

Plan to do an analysis of the hiring process for BHD positions and put measures into place to reduce the time it takes to hire by at least half. They should streamline the process and make use of upto-date automated processes by the end of 2023.

Institute an annual competitive analysisby th end of 2023 for all open BHD positions that includes consideration of the extraordinarily high cost of living in Santa Cruz, benefits and incentives.

Develop connections and internships with nearby universities that have Psychology and Social Work programs to groom a clinical workforce. A plan should be completed by the end of 2023.

Crisis Stabilization

To eliminate the frequent offloading of the Behavioral Health Division clients to local hospital emergency departments, the Board of Supervisors and BHD should by the end of 2023 evaluate ways to increase the number of Crisis Stabilization Program chairs and psychiatric beds available, which may include planning for another adult Psychiatric Healthcare Facility.

The Behavioral Health Division should:

• Improve staffing and expand coverage to 24/7 by the Mobile Emergency Response Team and the Mobile

Studies show that Cr6 in drinking water may cause an increased risk of stomach cancer and reproductive harm, according to state regulators.

The proposed regulations include estimates of the theoretical number of cancer cases avoided per year, based on the connections and where the maximum contaminant level is set.

The cost of monitoring, treatment and preparing compliance plans depends the number of connections.

Emergency Response Team for Youth by the end of 2023.

• Ensure a smooth transition plan and back-up plan for the treatment of children and youths from the current Crisis Stabilization Program to the planned new facility in Live Oak other than diverting them to emergency departments. This should be completed by Sept. 30.

Step-Down

The Behavioral Health Division should request sufficient funding from the County to provide adequate step-down care so patients do not relapse and need yet more care. This request should be in place by the end of 2023.

Latino/a Services

The Behavioral Health Division should continue to improve bilingual/bicultural outreach to the Latino/a population, including whether any language besides

“WaterSmart” from page 25

Customers can pay their bills through the portal, sign up for automatic billing, and/or paperless billing. You can also pay by text as well as sign up for alerts. Register today!

To register, simply go to soquelcreekwd. watersmart.com/index.php and enter your Account Number (exactly as it is shown on your bill) and your zip code. Once you are registered, you can create a portal username and password based on an email of your choice.

The District is really excited about the WaterSmart program and we encourage

Filtration pitchers and common fridge filters do not filter chromium-6 from water.

Ion exchange and reverse osmosis filtration are ways to remove chromium-6 from a water supply.

In 2010, the Environmental Working Group found chromium 6 in 31 of 35 cities tested, and at levels that exceeded public health goal of .02 parts per billion adopted by California regulators in 2011. To view a map of Cr6 testing, see https://www. ewg.org/interactive-maps/chromium6_ contamination/map/ n

For more information, see https://www. waterboards.ca.gov/drinking_water/certlic/ drinkingwater/SWRCBDDW-21-003_ hexavalent_chromium.html

For questions, contact Bethany Robinson (Bethany.Robinson@waterboards.ca.gov) or Melissa Hall (Melissa.Hall@waterboards.ca.gov).

Spanish reaches the threshold to warrant offering the bilingual pay differential. Improvements should be in place by the end of 2023.

The Behavioral Health Division should review recruitment and retention of bilingual staff, including an increase to the current bilingual pay differential by the end of 2023.

Commendations

The Grand Jury commends the Behavioral Health Division: For development of a psychiatric healthcare facility for children and youths which will provide much needed mental health services for this population. For efforts to develop a wide range of crisis care services not routinely offered in similar-sized counties, including Mobile Emergency Response Teams for adults and youth, a Crisis Services Program, and a Psychiatric Health Facility. n all our customers to sign up today! It can empower individuals to actively participate in sustainable practices by encouraging efficient water usage, leak detection and prevention, and providing personalized reports and educational resources. With programs like WaterSmart, we can collectively work towards a greener future, preserve our precious water resources, and create a positive impact on the environment. n •••

As always, if you have any questions about this month’s topic or anything else related to Soquel Creek Water District, feel free to contact us at outreach@soquelcreekwater.org or visit soquelcreekwater.org.