All News Releases By Date

EPA fines San Luis, Ariz. $6,000

Release Date: 10/19/2005
Contact Information: Margot Perez-Sullivan, 415/947-4149

Yuma County city fined for failure to comply with administrative order

SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently fined the city San Luis, Ariz. $6,000 for failing to comply with an administrative order to submit drinking water monitoring and reporting data.

The city failed to meet a June 1 deadline for monitoring and reporting chemicals found in its drinking water. The agency uses the data to evaluate and prioritize contaminants on the drinking water contaminant candidate list--a list of contaminants being considered for potential new drinking water standards as required by the national Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.

"The variety of potential contaminants in drinking water is of continuing concern to us. Through this type of monitoring, we work with public water systems nationwide to determine what contaminants need to be regulated in the future," said Alexis Strauss, water division director for EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. "This helps us ensure public water systems will continue to provide safe drinking water."

San Luis’ system, which serves over 20,000 customers with drinking water, is required to monitor for contaminants in addition to those regulated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and report the results to the EPA.

The Unregulated Contaminated Monitoring Rule program requires public water systems serving over 10,000 persons, along with a select number of smaller water systems, to monitor for unregulated contaminants in drinking water. The rule is designed to assist the EPA in determining which new contaminants should be considered for future regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.

For more information on the EPA’s Unregulated Contaminated Monitoring Rule program go to: https://www.epa.gov/safewater/ucmr/index.html
###