Water companies to convene to discuss PCE

South Tahoe Public Utility District, Lukins Brothers Water Company, and Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association are hosting a public meeting Feb. 7 to discuss the groundwater contaminant tetrachloroethylene, PCE, found in groundwater at the Y area.

This will be an opportunity to find out what the local water agencies are doing about it. This is important because all of their customers use groundwater.

Here is a column about the issue from last fall from Lukins.

While it was stated at the City Council meeting this week that PCE has reached the lake, STPUD and Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control officials after that meeting said that statement was not true.

“PCE has not been detected in the lake,” Doug Smith, assistant executive officer with Lahontan, told LTN.

STPUD provided this statement to Lake Tahoe News, “The known plume of PCE has entered the groundwater below the Tahoe Keys lagoon area. The PCE contaminated samples in the Keys area are from two of the Tahoe Keys Water Company public water supply wells. This means the samples are from a depth of approximately 100 feet below ground surface. If the water in the lagoons or the lake were sampled, PCE would not be detected. We are conducting an ongoing study of the PCE contamination at the South Y area with partner water agencies to control the spread of PCE and begin removal of the contaminant, design a treatment system, or identify potential alternate sources of water for Lukins and the Tahoe Keys Water Companies. Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board is conducting an ongoing investigation of Lake Tahoe Laundry Works, a potential responsible party. Lake Tahoe Laundry Works is also conducting onsite treatment of PCE.”

In 1989, PCE was found in drinking water wells near the intersection of highways 50 and 89. PCE remains in groundwater and forms a contaminant plume believed to cover more than 400 acres. PCE is a man made chemical that was used from the early 1960s through the mid-1980s as a solvent for dry cleaning clothes and degreasing metal.

The meeting will be from 6-7:30pm in council chambers at Lake Tahoe Airport.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report