Court Rejects Environmental Lawsuit Over Vacaville Groundwater

VACAVILLE, CA — A federal judge on Monday rejected an environmental group's lawsuit challenging the amount of hexavalent chromium found in groundwater around Vacaville.

The order by Chief United States District Judge Kimberly Mueller was made in the action brought by California River Watch over the groundwater, which is used as part of the city's water supply.

Mueller ruled that the Sebastopol-based group "here attempts to stretch the RCRA statute well beyond its application, seeking to force a square peg into a round hole."

The city had argued that it is in full compliance with state and federal chromium standards for drinking water and charged in a news release that "California River Watch tried to invent a new way to sue water utilities under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) — a law designed to regulate the disposal of solid and hazardous waste."

Toxicologist Margaret Whittaker, who consults for the Environmental Protection Agency, said that the highest level of hexavalent chromium detected in the city's water "does not subject consumers to a significant, potential risk of harm, either immediately or eventually," according to the news release.

The city had been preparing to pay for additional treatment of groundwater, but shelved those plans when a state court struck down the hexavalent chromium standard issued by California in 2014.

"Vacaville takes pride in providing our residents and businesses with a safe, clean and abundant water supply," City Manager Aaron Busch said in a statement. "We are grateful that the court acknowledged environmental groups cannot force cities to unnecessarily spend millions of ratepayer dollars to reduce naturally-occurring chromium to levels much lower than the limits set by the state or federal government."

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