Quartzsite H2O quality update...

Once again, you’re reading it here first. 

I have the un redacted reports on the brown/green/golden/rust colored water in Steve Bennett’s pool, and what appears to be a partial cover up job by Town officials…

 

Well, one thing we know for certain is that on Friday April 16^th the incoming water at 680 W. Tyson St. was so disgusting that when Councilman and Fire Captain Jose Lizarraga helped to pump it out, he admitted to being repulsed by it. At Wednesday’s “Meet the Incompetents” – I mean incumbents, Lizarraga reportedly stated “I was there…It was green.” and suggested to those in attendance that if you have a swimming pool to fill, you should strain the Town water through a sock. However, Lizarraga did not offer any suggestions of what to strain it through if you actually want to drink it..

 

According to a letter sent from Councilwoman Barbara Cowell to Police Chief Jeff Gilbert, on April 19^th, it was reported to her that“…there was something brown like sewage and green slim in the Town of Quartzsite’s drinking water”. (Cowell’s spelling error, not mine.)

 

(From a letter sent from Town mismanager Alex Taft to the Police Chief on April 22^nd) On April 16^th, “At 5:30 P. M. I received a call from Council Member Jose Lizarraga stating that as Steve Bennett refilled the pool, there was still a green color in the water and sediment at the bottom of the pool. Jose said any additional assistance could wait until Monday…” From the same letter, “At 9:30 that evening”, Taft “received a call from Vice – Mayor Barbara Cowell..” and  Taft stated “On the basis of that phone call I decided that a panic had been set in motion…” By 10:30 P. M. Taft had “called the police to assure a police presence the following morning when water department personnel would be at the above noted address to test the water.” The conclusion of Taft’s letter went onto to state her position that the situation “was not about drinking water but about a swimming pool” and noted that “There are still phone calls, reports to be completed and contact with ADEQ is ongoing.” Apparently Alex doesn’t understand that Bennett was filling his indoor pool that had been acid cleaned the day before with the very same DRINKING WATER that is being delivered to everyone in Town. The same people who just received a big fat rate increase for the penalty of being forced to utilize it! And of course, the possibility certainly exists that she just doesn’t care.

 

According to witness Star Bear Cat in yet another letter to Police Chief Jeff Gilbert, on the following morning of May 17^th, the pool contained water that “was green and there was rust colored and golden sediment and algae at the bottom” with “a petroleum odor” and “golden sediment” that gathered into “clumps that do not easily separate and when they do they find their way back to a similar material” (Editor’s observation: Think lava lamp!). “When Rain smelled the Bennett sample it smelled to her ‘like a dirty old tractor’. She recoiled from the smell”

 

Quartzsite employee Jeff Sorensen

http://www.myspace.com/anaconda666th

reported that at 6:48 am “On the 17^th day of April 2010” he “received a call from Waste water Supervisor Rob Troxler” and approximately an hour later “we all met at Town Hall because Jeff Gilbert wanted to have a meeting before we headed over to 680 W. Tyson St. Rob Troxler, Hugh Bryant, Chief Jeff Gilbert, Joe Winslow and Alex Taft discussed how we were going to approach this problem.”      

Hey, at least we know there was no “coliert” present in the water (the ONLY thing it was tested for), and according to Jeff Sorensen in the same report “I completed my paperwork and disposed of the samples.” Gasp! Did the Town order Sorensen to destroy evidence?

 

A complete analysis of the Town’s water was not done. Although “no deficiencies were noted” in the testing schedule or the equipment, The Town of Quartzsite is only required by law to test for the following:

coliform - twice a month

lead and copper - every 3 years

disinfection byproducts - twice a year

maximum residual disinfectant level - monthly

and issue a Consumer Confidence Report for each calendar year by July 1^st of the following year. So folks, the consumer report for this year will not be made public until the summer of 2011! When mayoral candidate Ed Foster made a public records request “for copies of the latest test for compliance and a list of the tap water testing sites” Alex Taft claims she denied Foster's request under advice from Cynthia Campbell of ADEQ because of “Homeland Security” and according to Taft “we should consult with our attorney.”

 

The inspection report from ADEQ dated April 22^nd relates “When asked what the sediment was on the bottom of the tanks, Mr. Cruz stated it was iron and manganese sediment. In a post inspection debriefing, Mr. Cruz and Alex Taft were given contact information for two similar systems who had installed filtration systems to remove iron and manganese.” Although safe levels of these metals are listed under the EPA secondary standards, Quartzsite is NOT required to comply with those VOLUNTARY recommendations. The ADEQ report recommended replacing a worn gasket on the hatch collar of one storage tank that is scheduled to be taken off line.  It also noted a “slight sheen” of NSF approved turbine lubricant on the surface of the water. (Does turbine oil smell “like a dirty old tractor”?)

 

Get ready for what can only be described as the most bizarre and ridiculous campaign stunt by the current regime thus far. Along with Duty Sergeant Xavier Frausto, Police Chief Jeff Gilbert has filed criminal complaints with the La Paz County Attorney’s Office against candidates Foster and Moore! The lengthy report claims the crime victim is the “Town of Quartzsite” and that Foster and Moore engaged in conspiracy and falsely reported an emergency. According to Case No. 10-00318, Gilbert reports that “Taft briefed everyone on the chain of events that had taken place, and was very concerned that Foster and Moore had begun a campaign to instill fear in the public that the Town’s water supply was unsafe.”

 

In a report that is riddled with hearsay, Police Chief Gilbert refers to statements allegedly made by the 14 witnesses he listed, but no sworn witness statements were attached. According to Gilbert “The entire incident and the false report made to Central Dispatch was created over nothing more than a dirty swimming pool. The incident was reported falsely with an intent to create a scare or panic for the public, in order to further their political agenda.

I am requesting charges of “False Reporting” ARS 13-2709.A.1 and “Conspiracy” ARS 13-1003.A.”

Then, in an apparent attempt to further his own political agenda, Chief Gilbert misrepresents the facts by claiming that ADEQ “found no significant deficiencies or contaminants within Quartzsite’s water system.” Or maybe Gilbert was just incapable of reading and understanding the nuances of the report.

 

So what WAS in the water flowing from the Town’s service connection into Steve Bennett’s pool? The preliminary test results from an independent lab confirm that the “sediment” was microbiological. If I was a betting man, my money would be on algae  and turbine lubricant combined with the iron and manganese that always gives Town water a bad taste and odor (and which can cause “skin or tooth discoloration”). When the independent lab tests are in, you can bet that you might read about them here first too!