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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 03191991 - 2.7 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: Franklin Lew Costa Director o ? �`< Director of Building Inspection � .. Count DATE: March 19, 1991 r c,;u '`Tv SUBJECT: BLUE WATER SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION I. Recommended Action: ACCEPT report from the Building Inspection Department regarding "Blue Water" and the use of plastic pipe in houses built within the jurisdiction of Contra Costa County, and deny Dame Construction Company, Inc' s request for such usage without prejudice. II. Financial Impact: None III. Reasons for Recommendations and Background: On February 12 , 1991, Dame Construction submitted a request to the Board that the Contra Costa County Plumbing Code be amended to allow the use of CPVC plastic water pipe and tubing for cold and hot water distribution within a building. Such uses are permitted by the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) , the model code upon which the County code is based. However, the State Plumbing Code, which is also based on the UPC, does not allow such usage. State laws require that cities and counties adopt construction codes which are substantively the same as the State codes. Thus, when the County adopted the UPC, the section in the UPC which allowed such usage was deleted. The history preceding Dame Construction's request are capsuled in the following points: • In mid-1989, the County started receiving complaints about "Blue Water" (copper tainted) in the areas of San Ramon Valley. The City of Hercules also is experiencing this phenomenon. There is evidence that the blue water problem is not unique to Contra Costa County. Staff has documentation of occurrences of blue water in locations as diverse as the City of Alameda and Tucson, Arizona. However, the large number of homes in the San Ramon Valley that are experiencing this condition have really brought the problem to the fore. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: X YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON March 19, 1 991 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER X In response to Supervisor Schroder's inquiry as to resolution of the "Blue Water" (copper tainted) problem in certain areas of the San Ramon Valley, Dr. William Walker commented on studies underway to identify the source of 'the problem and expressed confidence in it being solved. Michael W. Rupprecht, attorney for Dame' Construction Company, urged the Board to permit use of plastic pipe in construction of new houses in the County. Daniel Carodozza of Local 159 expressed support for staff's recommendation. The Board approved staff's recommendation and denied without prejudice the request of Dame' Construction Company. The Board AUTHORIZED the Health Services Director to send a letter to the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) urging their continued efforts to resolve the "blue water" problem. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE XX UNANIMOUS(ABSENT — — ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. Orig Dept: ATTESTED March 19, 1991 cc: County Administrator County Counsel PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF County Health Department SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR State Department HCD Cities of Hercules/San Ramon/Danville City Manager & Building Inspection (O � � ` Plumbers Union BY yV DEPUTY Dame Construction s Blue Water -2- March 19, 1991 • Meetings were held which included representatives from the County Health Department, Building Inspection, EBMUD, developers, and related professionals. • A series of different theories for the problem have been advanced, focusing on workmanship and/or the materials and procedures used in plumbing installations. It now appears that the problem may be water chemistry and stagnation, and the effects that water chemistry may have on copper plumbing systems. • . A series of solutions have been tried with varying degrees of success. Attachment A indicates the varying responses as proposed under the leadership of the Health Department. • Dame Construction recently conducted tests on a experimental CPVC system installed in a house which had experienced blue water. The results indicate significantly lower copper contents in 'the water conveyed through the test CPVC system. Thus, Dame' s interest in using this material. • The use of plastic piping, including CPVC, has been steadfastly opposed by the pipe trades unions. • In California, the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) had intended to allow use of CPVC when it adopted the 1982 UPC, but was finally persuaded to hold off doing so until an environmental impact report on such usage was conducted, and the report was certified. It has been in preparation for 9 years. Progress has been slowed by procedural and substantive issues raised by interested parties. A draft EIR was issued in 1989 which concluded that the use of CPVC would have negligible environmental impact. However, the draft report also included recommendations to mitigate possible hazardous chemical exposures that could confront workers who install the materials. Attachment B is a summary of the draft EIR findings. The debates continue, and it is not possible at this time to predict whether or when an EIR will be certified. • It should be noted that CPVC is allowed in mobile homes manufactured in California. The Federal government has occupied the field for promulgating construction standards governing mobile homes, and the Feds have accepted the model UPC as it is written. Furthermore, other states which use the UPC, including most western states, are allowing the use of CPVC. And lastly, EBMUD uses plastic pipe in its laterals up to the house meter. Such work is outside the jurisdiction of the County Plumbing Code. • The State will adopt the 1991 edition of the UPC by the end of this year. HCD staff has expressed the hope that the EIR will be certified, and the use of CPVC allowed. However, this may be overly optimistic. Given the history of the debate, it is likely the certification of the EIR will face legal challenges. • The Board can expect the same opposition and challenges if it amends the County Plumbing Code to allow use of CPVC as requested by Dame Construction. • The County lead agency on the issue of blue water has been the Health Department, which has declared such water as not potable. This has required Dame Construction and other developers to provide bottled water for residents, and to be under threat of loss of subdivision certification by the State Department of Real Estate. • Discussions with Dr. Walker suggest it will be at least six months before the blue water issue is definitively identified and resolved. The earliest that the State may allow plastic pipe will be at least nine months, and this assumes no legal actions. • In addition to solutions for new construction, there will need to be a method to retrofit the existing occupied homes that are experiencing blue water. If plastic pipe continues to be not allowed in new construction, the retrofit method also would not be allowed to use plastic pipe. Blue Water -3- March 19, 1991 Staff is sympathetic to the difficulties developers are confronted with in this matter, particularly in view of their efforts to identify and correct the problem. It should also be noted that other interested parties have pursued their own investigations into the problem. However, in the most optimistic scenario, it will be at least nine months before the County Health Department or the State Department of Housing and Community Development could provide a resolution to the problem. Staff believes it would be premature for the Board to make any decisions at this point based on the merits of any input from interested parties. Meantime, the Board could pass an ordinance to allow use of CPVC based on a finding that it is an appropriate response to an emergency situation. The question must be asked whether the blue water problem can be considered as an emergency. Staff concludes that while it is urgent to resolve the problem at the earliest date, the problem cannot be characterized as an emergency. ATTACHMENT A Attachment A is a letter from Dr. Walker which indicates the efforts underway to find solutions to the problem in the San Ramon Valley area. ATTACHMENT A Contra Costa County Health Services Department y:�� -rte"•. William S. Walker, M.D. Medical Director and County Health Officer Sri't8ii i��i� Dear Participant: I am writing to propose a comprehensive and cooperative effort to solve the blue water problem which continues to of feet homes in the Danville/San Ramon and Hercules areas. This proposal follows discussions held--February 26 and -27, '1991, among consultants to the various developers of the affected subdivisions, representatives of Plumbers Union Local 159,- a -Copper Development Association (CDA) engineer, East Bay Municipal Utility District staff and consultants, Contra Costa County Health Services Department staff and State Department of Health Services representative. Attached to this letter is a table which lists work which has been conducted, is in-progress, or has been proposed to be conducted in order to identify a solution to the blue water problem. The table also includes responsible parties for the various activities listed. Clearly, much work has been done and a substantial amount of further work is proposed.. If this work is carried out in a cooperative environment, duplication of effort will be minimized and the benefits to everyone will maximized. The specifics of this proposal are as follows: 1. For proposed or in--progress work, the initiator(s) will provide a test plan to a designated representative for each participant in this cooperative effort. The test plan shall contain a statement of objective and description of methodology in sufficient detail to allow qualified persons to understand what and how work will be conducted. 2. Other participants will have the opportunity to provide their comments on the proposed work. The initiator is not obligated to modify the test plan based on the comments, but everyone is encouraged to consider such input prior to commencing the proposed work. In order to avoid unnecessarily delaying progress on finding a solution, I suggest that the comment period be set as seven calendar days from the distribution date of the test plan. 3. As the work progresses, periodic technical meetings will be held to discuss project status and preliminary results. These meetings are intended to provide an early exchange of information so that on-going work may be refined, new avenues of investigation identified and independent observations combined to enhance the cumulative understanding of the problem and potential solutions. 20 Alien Street• Martinez,CA 94553•(415)370-5010 Offic,4t•(415)370-5098 FAX A-428 (10/90) Proposal - Blue Water Problem March 6, 1991 Page 2 4. At the completion of the work, a technical memorandum describing the original objective and methodology, modifications to the original plan which were implemented, problems encountered in conducting the work, and results of the work will be distributed to participants in this effort. This proposal is intended to allow the vast technical resources which have boon independently retained to work on the blue water problem to be enhanced through mutual interaction. combining the knowledge, experience, expertise, analytical skill and creative ability of the many participants in this situation is the surest and fastest way to solve this problem. I encourage you to favorably consider this proposal. In order to expedite this cooperative effort, please indicate your willingness to participate to me by March 81 1991 . Very truly yours, William B. Walker, M.D. Health officer/Medical Director WW:jf bWP3:opos.ww s BLUE WATER ACTION FLAN ALTERNATIVE CONDUCTED PROPOSED (a) Evaluation of Home Installation Practices A. Evaluate House _Plumbing Materials 1 _ Soft Copper Standard Pacific 2. Hard Copper Standard Pacific 3. Plastic (CPVC) Dame - cold water B. Alternate House Plumbing Installations 1. Hard Copper Plumbers Union No. 159 2. Galvanized Steel Plumbers Union No. 159 C. Replace House Plumbing-- Copper EBMUD D. Acid Wash/Bicarbonate Rinse Dame; De Bene; Shapell, Standard Pacific 1. Industrial Wash/Rinse EBMUD 2. Residual Scale Removal EBMUD/Standard Pacific 3. Residual Scale Removal and Add Phosphate EBMUD/Standard Pacific 4. Residual Scale Removal and Hydroflush EBMUD/Standard Pacific 5. Proprietary Wash Dame E Filters at Paint-of-Use Standard Pacific; Dame F. Grounding Standard Pacific; Dame ESMUD/Plumbers Union No. 159 Water Chemistry/Water Quality Evaluations A. In-House Chemical Additions 1 . Orthophosphate EBMUD 2. Ortho/poly phosphate blend Standard Pacific 3. Bicarbonate Standard Pacific Dame 4. Oxidant - Hydrogen Peroxide Standard Pacific 5. Reductant - Thiosulfate Standard Pacific B. Electrochemical Noise and Water Los Medanos Plumbing/ Chemistry Modifications Dame C. Alternative Water Treatment Pilot Test EBMUD Water Usage Evaluation A. Flow Control Standard Pacific EBMUD B. Reverse Hot/Cold Lines County Health Services 1. Recirculate Hot Water Standard Pacific C. Recirculate Water & In-Line f=ilter 1 . Low Flow Standard Pacific 2. High_ Flow _ Standard Pacific D. 30-Day Contlnuous Flow Standard Pacific Standard Pacific E. Rinsing- Daily Flush Dame; De Bene; Shapell; Standard Pacific (a) Dependent on results of other tests. 3/11/911 ATTACHMENT B The Department of Housing and Community Development has spent several years working on an Environmental Impact Report. Attachment B provides a summary of issues and the initial response. The full draft report and technical appendices were buried in comments following circulation and hearing. Neither the comments nor the responses have been published. ATTACHMENT B i i Draft Environmental Impact Report PLASTIC PLUMBING PIPE An assessment of potential public health, worker health, and fire safety impacts associated with allowing expanded use of plastic pipe for water supply and drain/waste lines in residential construction. August 1989 Availability: A copy has been sent to every main county library in the state. Additional copies may be purchased from the Department of Housing and Community Develop- ment. Public Hearings: September 26: 107 South Broadway, Los Angeles September 27: 1111 Jackson Street, Oakland Comment Period: Ends October 23, 1989 OP Th 4 � J A V ,fes.J �A by Y � NO George Deukmejian,Governor State of California John K.Geoghegan,Secretary Business,Transportation and Housing Agency Julie C.Nauman,Acting Director Department of Housing and Community Development Department of Housing and Community Development 1800 Third Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 445-9471 SUMMARY The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) is proposing to amend the state housing law to incorporate . provisions of the 1988 Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC), which will allow additional uses of plastic plumbing pipe in residential construction. The principal changes are to allow the use of polybutylene (PB) and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) pipe in hot and cold potable water (PW) supply systems inside dwellings and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) , polyvinyl chloride (PVC) , and CPVC pipe in drain, waste, and vent (DWV) applications in combustible construction. Currently, no plastic pipe is allowed for water supply insidea dwelling, and only PVC and polyethylene (PE) are allowed for cold water supply outside a dwelling; ABS and PVC are allowed for DWV, but only in structures two stories or less. If adopted, this state-level action would stimulate similar changes in the plumbing codes of most local jurisdictions in California, and substantial use of the newly approved materials, especially PB for potable water and ABS for DWV in fire-rated buildings, would be expected. These materials would replace copper PW pipe, cast iron DWV pipe, smaller quantities of galvanized steel PW and DWV pipe, and/or copper DWV pipe, and minor quantities of the plastics currently allowed. The principal areas of concern about plastic and metal piping systems are: o Impacts on public health of the chemicals entering drinking water from pipe, pipe-joining materials, or surrounding contaminated soils o Illness or injuries in plumbers thatresult from installing pipe o Danger from fires, as a result of either increased fire spread or smoke toxicity o Fiscal impacts on the price of housing and the employment of plumbers and pipe manufacturers o Other impacts such as energy consumption in pipe manufacture and use. This report found that no unavoidable significant adverse effects in these areas would result from the proposed expanded use of plastic plumbing pipe. 1 I Public Health Recent studies have found that a few chemicals leach from plastic pipe and solvent cements into drinking water. However, leachates from PB pipe are negligible, and cement solvents are the only leachates consistently found in measurable levels in CPVC pipe systems. None of the leachates was detected at levels that would pose a significant health risk to residents. Two chemicals were detected at levels that could, .under worst-case conditions, pose health risks to workers who drink large quantities of water from a plastic plumbing system that has not been thoroughly flushed. A moderately toxic chemical, methyl ethyl ketone (also known as 2-butanone) , could leach in concentrations that somewhat exceed the lifetime (but not shorter term) health advisory levels. Chloroform, an animal and probably a human carcinogen, could be produced by the reaction of chlorinated water with the cement used on CPVC pipe at levels that would have about one chance in a million of causing cancer during a worker's lifetime. However, these chemicals are unlikely to pose significant long-term health risks under more realistic conditions of exposure. Available information indicates that lead leachate from copper and galvanized steel pipe poses a significant public health risk if solders having a high lead content are used. However, the State of California has prohibited the use of lead solder containing more than 0.2% lead. Permeation of buried CPVC water pipe by contaminants in the soil would be insignificant, except under conditions of extremely high concentrations of organic solvents in the soil. In contrast, PB pipe is much more susceptible to permeation by organic chemicals, but high concentrations of chemicals in the environment would be required to produce appreciable permeation levels. The necessary conditions are unlikely except near underground gasoline storage tanks and dump sites. Worker Health and Safety The net effect of increased use of plastic pipe on safety is unclear. It could .lead to, a .decrease in the risk of accidental injury because strains and contusions incurred in lifting heavy metal pipe as well as burns from soldering copper pipe would presumably be less. On the other hand, the ease of handling and installing plastic pipe could lead to hurried work by less trained individuals and possibly to more accidents. Increased plastic pipe use would lead to increased exposure to solvents among the plumbers installing that pipe, and installation using current procedures may cause short-term exposure limits to be exceeded one or more times on a substantial fraction of work days. The two solvents most likely to exceed their respective short-term and iv full-shift exposure limits are tetrahydrofuran and methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) . However, the established exposure limits for both substances are designed to prevent eye, nose, and throat irritation and are much lower than the levels needed to induce acute central nervous system effects. Conclusions about health impacts are limited by the scarcity of chronic toxicity information. The occasionally excessive short-term exposures as well as total biological uptake could be reduced by instituting reasonable control measures that are not now widely used. Fire Safety • Plastic pipe is more susceptible to fire damage than is metal pipe. If installed as a direct substitute for metal pipe, plastic will allow faster fire spread by burning or slumping at wall penetrations. ABS and PVC already are used in 95% of the DWV systems installed in new nonfire-rated construction in California, and there is no evidence that they have caused unusual fire hazards. Permitting the use of CPUC would have a very small additional effect. On the other hand, permitting PB and CPVC for hot and cold water supply would be a new use. However, the additional quantities would be small relative to DWV plastics, and the effect on fire.spread would not be significant. The proposed action would allow the use of plastic plumbing pipe in fire-rated construction as long as the fire rating is preserved. If techniques for preserving the rating are implemented--such as the use of metal sleeves or fire closures at wall penetrations--plastic pipe will, by definition, be acceptable in this regard. To maintain the rating, fire-stopping materials and techniques that meet suitable fire performance tests must be used. Further, special care would be required in installation and inspection to ensure that the necessary level of protection is achieved. The combustion of all plastic pipes gives off toxic products. • Although some toxic smoke is generated from pipe-joining compounds in metal systems, the amounts are insignificant. Given the currently available data and the expected amount of use of these materials in residences, none of the plastics under consideration is likely to pose a significant threat to residents. Fire fighters are intermittently exposed to a variety of smoke toxicants and thus are more subject to long-term illness, but the breathing equipment provided them would prevent harmful exposure. Economics The life-cycle cost of plastic pipe is slightly less than that of metal pipe in typical residences, but the difference is not sufficient v to cause a significant increase in residential construction or to induce significant growth in California's population through lowered housing cost. Small decreases in employment would occur in metal pipe industries, and small increases in employment would occur in plastic pipe industries. The work (in terms of labor hours) available to plumbers would decrease slightly--(1) because it is easier for them to install plastic pipe (thereby raising their productivity) and (2) because. it is also easier for homeowners to install, replace, and repair their own plastic plumbing rather than employing plumbers to do so. Other Issues A very small decrease in total energy consumption and a very small increase in petroleum consumption would occur if the use of plastic pipe becomes more widespread. Plastic DWV is reportedly noticeably noisier than cast iron in otherwise identical installations, and that additional noise may be annoying in .multifamily residences affected by the code changes. Neither these nor other potential impacts would be significant. Conclusion Wider use of plastic plumbing pipe would not increase public health hazards significantly. Worker on-the-job safety may or may not be improved. Worker exposures to solvents would increase, but could be limited to minor levels by the use of protective measures. Similarly, by restricting their intake of preoccupancy water, workers could minimize their exposure to HEK, which may appear in concentrations approaching hazardous levels and to chloroform, .which is a potential carcinogen. Unlike metal pipe, plastic pipe burns or decomposes thermally, but if effective fire-stopping techniques are used when it is installed, plastic plumbing pipe will not diminish fire safety. Although the risk of toxic smoke from plastics is greater than that for metal plumbing systems, smoke from burning plastic pipe does not pose a significant health threat to residents or, if they use breathing apparatus, to fire fighters. Finally, the economic impacts of greater use of plastic pipe would be small, involving slight shifts in employment between industrial sectors and a small decrease in plumbing work. Overall, no significant environmental impacts are associated with more widespread use of plastic plumbing pipe. The modified-action alternatives considered cannot be differentiated on the basis of significant environmental impacts. They do offer ways to reduce certain small though finite risks to lower levels. Furthermore, the various environmental implications of the two types of plumbing systems, although differing, indicate no clear environmental preference for plastic or for metal pipe. vi