Guam EPA dieldrin update gets zero public comments

The public comment period for the Guam Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed updates to the dieldrin interim action level has officially closed — without a single public comment.  

It was a quiet and brief public hearing on the proposed updates to the risk assessment document for the Dieldrin Interim Action Level, held by the Guam EPA last week — with the open meeting garnering no public participation. The discussion taking place at around 3pm last Friday, a close to the comment period that opened mid-February. 

GEPA environmental specialist Nicole Diras confirming the lack of attendees, telling KUAM News, “We currently don’t have any members of the public present to give comments; however, we will wait 30 minutes for anyone to arrive before completing today’s public hearing.”

Officials also noting that no comments were received via email or drop-off. Still, Guam EPA going over the updates in the current document, which reflect additional revisions based on comments received from the public during previous hearings on the matter. 

In summary, the proposed changes include clarification as to when the interim action level is exceeded, increased monitoring after any detection of dieldrin, added language about point of entry systems, and added requirements for lifting public notice, to name a few. 

Diras continued, “We did not change the IAL itself, that is still at 0.2 micro-grams per liter, or PPB, or requirement for a Tier 1 notice  for the exceedance of .05 micro-grams per liter.”

It also notes that should public water systems choose to shut off any well from production due to previous or anticipated exceedance of the IAL, it must abide by the following: notify customers served by the well in the previous 30 days in accordance with the level of exceedance, notify Guam EPA's Safe Drinking Water Program within 24 hours, and may not reenter production without the installation of adequate and approved treatment and compliance with approved monitoring requirements. 

“We clarified the conditions under which we consider the IAL to be exceeded, and added requirements for wells previously removed from production because of an expected dieldrin exceedance," said Diras. "We were previously less clear, we had not addressed wells that were taken offline prior to the effective date of the IAL.”

Other proposed updates are seen in the document’s Consumer Health Section, which clearly lists dieldrin as a probable human carcinogen. It goes on to state, “Some people who drink water containing dieldrin in excess of the ial over many years could experience problems with their liver or nervous system, and may have an increased risk of getting cancer.” 

“We use USEPA language that is used for similar pesticides which we hope will decrease confusion, and increase consistency with the federal and GEPA regulations," Diras said.

In the meantime, the updates are expected to go before Guam EPA's board of directors for approval.