Download the Replacement Water Supply Feasibility Study report.

On October 11, 2011, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board in Lahontan County issued an Amended Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2011-0005A1 requiring PG&E to provide interim and replacement water supplies to the residents of Hinkley, California, whose wells were impacted as a result of the discharge of untreated cooling water containing hexavalent chromium to unlined ponds at the Hinkley Compressor Station. The Order consists of four provisions relating to:

1. An interim replacement water supply,
2. A replacement water supply,
3. The determination of impacted wells, and
4. The funding of an independent consultant to advise the community of Hinkley on matters subject to regulation by the Water Board.

Whole-house water treatment was identified as one of the methods to be evaluated in the feasibility study to provide replacement water for indoor domestic uses for impacted wells in the affected area, as defined by the Order. On behalf of PG&E, ARCADIS conducted a Whole-House Water Treatment Pilot Study in support of the April 2012 Replacement Water Supply Feasibility Study.

The Order stipulated that, for the purposes of evaluating the performance of the water treatment systems in meeting the Public Health Goal (PHG), the levels of hexavalent chromium in the treated groundwater supply must be below the analytical laboratory method reporting limit of 0.06 μg/L (the method reporting limit [MRL] is slightly higher than the PHG due to analytical method limitations. The Order, as written, also requires that the replacement water must meet all California primary and secondary drinking water standards. However, the latter provision would not appear applicable to the situation where PG&E provides a replacement water supply where hexavalent chromium has been removed from well water, leaving only constituents that are not present as a result of PG&E’s actions.

New! 11/19/2013 – Decision on Requests by PG&E and the Members of the Hinkley Community to Change Whole House Replacement Water Program and Plume Delineation Requirements

Comments Received

• October 21, 2013 Prosecution Team
• October 17, 2013 Spasojevich
• October 15, 2013 Hinkley Citizens
• October 13, 2013 Banks
• October 10, 2013 CAC
• September 30, 2013 Schoffstall
• September 30, 2013 Banks
• September 16, 2013 Panchev
• September 13, 2013 Panchev
• September 13, 2013 Panchev Attachment
• September 12, 2013 Banks
• September 12, 2013 Panchev
• September 11, 2013 Panchev
• September 3, 2013 PG&E

Documents Related to the Whole House Water Replacement Program

• 11/19/2013 – Decision on Requests by PG&E and the Members of the Hinkley Community to Change Whole House Replacement Water Program and Plume Delineation Requirements
• 08/06/2013 – WHW Update
• 06/30/2013 – WHW Update Report
• 05/09/2013 – Summary of WB Letter Dated on May 9, 2013 Regarding PG&E’s Modifications to the WHRW Program
• 05/09/2013 – Water Board Response to PG&E Requests
• 04/01/2013 – Entry Agreement to Install, Operate and Maintain Whole House Water Treatment Systems
• 03/15/2013 – Addendum to Work Plan to Address Provision I.A. of Cleanup and Abatement Order No. R6V-2008-0002-A4
• 02/07/2013 – Whole House Replacement Water Program Modification
• 10/03/2012 – PG&E Progress Report, Fall 2012
• 08/10/2012 – IRP Manager (Project Navigator, Ltd.) Comments on the Draft Cleanup and Abatement Order
• 08/09/2012 – PG&E Comments on the Draft Cleanup and Abatement Order
• 07/25/2012 – Notice of Opportunity to Comment on the Draft Cleanup and Abatement Order
• 06/07/2012 – Adopted Amended Cleanup and Abatement Order
• 06/2012 – Frequently Asked Questions for Hinkley Whole House Replacement Water Supply
• 12/16/2011 – Water Board Staff Comments on PG&E Whole House Water Treatment Systems Proposal
• 10/11/2011 – Adopted Cleanup and Abatement Order
• 07/12/2011 – PG&E Comments on Draft Cleanup and Abatement Order