EPA, NID Bring Water to Lava Cap Superfund Site
July 11, 2012
Contact: Ron Nelson (530) 273-6185 Or: Dave Carter (530) 265-NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
EPA, NID Bring Water to Lava Cap Superfund Site
GRASS VALLEY – Directors of the Nevada Irrigation District on Wednesday (July 11) approved an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that will bring treated drinking water to properties where water wells have been tainted by an old mining site.
The Lava Cap Mine is listed on the EPA Superfund, a nationwide environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. The water project is being financed and constructed by EPA and its contractors.
The work, scheduled to begin this summer and be completed by Nov. 30, will provide piped and treated NID drinking water to 10 parcels where wells have been impacted by arsenic contamination.
The water project includes 7900 feet of 8-inch pipeline, three pressure reducing stations, public fire hydrants and other appurtenances. The new pipeline will run from Lee Lane near the Nevada County Airpark to Lava Cap Mine Road and Tensy Lane.
NID Chief Engineer Gary King said line will provide the first leg of what may eventually become a looped mainline along Greenhorn Road to Highway 174.
“This is a good project for the community and a good project for the district; it’s something that needed to be resolved,” said King.
In other business, NID directors:
• heard a report on the ongoing NID/City of Lincoln planning process for a new regional water treatment plant that would supply properties in NID boundaries that are also within the city and its sphere of influence. The district will request proposals for environmental studies of the proposal. Lincoln Mayor Spencer Short noted the city is funding the planning process as part of an overall effort to improve the city’s water system infrastructure.
• heard a report and authorized staff to submit a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding its recent biological opinion that ties NID’s water systems to the downstream operation of Englebright and Daguerre Point dams on the Yuba River. Consultant Paul Kelley and legal adviser Jeff Meith both advised the board that NID should not be connected to operations on the lower Yuba River.
• voted for the election of incumbent Noelle Mattock as the Region 2 director on the California Special Districts Association Board of Directors. Mattock has been a Sierra foothills advocate and is a founder of the CSDA’s Gold Country Regional Chapter.
The next regular meeting of the NID Board of Directors will be held at 9 a.m. on July 25 at the NID Business Center in Grass Valley. NID board meetings are open to the public.