Costa Mesa wells shut down

Paul Clinton

COSTA MESA -- The discovery of a potentially cancer-causing substance

has led to the shutdown of three wells that produce water for Costa Mesa.

The Mesa Consolidated Water District on Tuesday shut down three of its

nine Fountain Valley wells after the Orange County Water District

announced it had found “1,4-Dioxane” in the county’s aquifer.

The shutdown will double what the district pays for water.

The Mesa Consolidated wells supply water to Costa Mesa, a small

section of Newport Beach and John Wayne Airport.

The agency pulled the plug on the wells voluntarily to allay public

fears about the substance, which was found in trace amounts.

“We know that when a story like this first hits, the public gets

concerned,” said the district’s general manager, Diana Leach. “We don’t

take chances with public confidence. . . . There is no public health

risk.”

On Tuesday, Newport Beach closed down its four wells until officials

learn more about the industrial solvent.

It is still unclear when the wells would be put back into service.

In early December, the county water district found 1,4-Dioxane in the

wells at a level of between four and eight parts per billion. The levels

caused a red-flag warning from the state’s Department of Health Services,

which sets a preliminary level for concern about the substance at three

parts per billion.

As a result of the closure, Mesa Consolidated is expected to spend

twice as much to deliver water. To make up for the loss of the ground

water, Leach said the agency will buy more from the Orange County

Metropolitan Water District.

The imported water costs twice as much. Costs for water are expected

to spike from about $6,000 to about $11,200 per day during the winter

months.

About half of Costa Mesa’s water will now come from the county water

district.

Leach said she wasn’t worried about the increased costs because they

would be credited back by the Orange County Water District..

That district’s board will consider that matter at its Wednesday

meeting. Agency spokesman Ron Wildermuth said the credit isn’t a done

deal, though the board has reimbursed local agencies for past problems.

“In the past, things like that have been done,” Wildermuth said. “It

hasn’t been addressed.”