Human error blamed for water contamination...by Diana Balazs - May. 1, 2008…07:58 PM…The Arizona Republic …NORTHEAST VALLEY - Operator error is blamed for a malfunction in January at a plant owned and operated by the Arizona American Water Co. that treats groundwater contaminated with trichloroethylene, a suspected cancer-causing chemical. That is the conclusion of an investigation conducted for Motorola Inc. and other companies that were the source of the TCE contamination decades ago. The companies are paying for cleanup of the contaminated groundwater, including the treatment facility. A separate investigation done for Arizona American concluded that the plant's systems and components were not designed or operated in an optimal manner. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality will review both reports. On January 15, a malfunction occurred at the plant near Miller Road and McDonald Drive in Scottsdale that resulted in a three-day water ban affecting nearly 5,000 Arizona American customers in Paradise Valley and Scottsdale. A malfunctioning blower on one of three forced-air stripping towers used to remove TCE, an industrial solvent, was cited as the problem. That malfunction allowing untreated water from a well known as PCX-1 to flow into the public water supply. In addition, a trio of alarms failed to alert operators. In a letter submitted with its report, Arizona American president Paul Townsley said the evidence does not reveal how the blower shut down, leaving the well pumping. Arizona American no longer uses PCX-1 as a water source.

WOW … now that’s a real surprise, isn’t it…?

And of course, “we” believe and accept this “cockamamie” explanation as gospel.

Did you really expect that either ADEQ or your Az Corp Commission would have the “guts” to hold one of the largest for-profit-water-purveyors in the world accountable and responsible and that’s before you add Motorola into the equation…?

A few questions pop into my head like, (a) how much training did this reputed negligent employee have…? (b) what form of training did he have…? (c) which agency ADEQ/EPA/ACC made the determination this “accident” was solely operator error…? (d) do you actually know how much operator error occurs everyday in almost every water treatment facilities processing your water…?

NAW … you don’t really want to know because then you’d be aware and you just might have to assume some personal accountability and responsibility…?