Northern California Tribe agrees to improve drinking water safeguards

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a settlement with the Grindstone Indian Rancheria of Wintun-Wailaki Indians in Glenn County, Calif., that requires the Tribe to take immediate action to address issues with its drinking water system and comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The Tribe owns and operates the Grindstone Rancheria public water system, which is designed to serve treated surface water from Stony Creek to 150 residents.

Under the terms of the settlement, the Tribe must:

• Develop and issue a boil water notice as needed to address certain contaminants in residents’ drinking water.
• Achieve and demonstrate compliance with federal standards to treat surface water for the Tribe’s water tanks and distribution lines.
• Provide an alternative supply of clean drinking water as needed to affected residents.
• Develop an operation and maintenance plan for the Tribal drinking water system and hire two operators to run the system.
• Meet annual reporting requirements and approve an annual budget for the drinking water system’s operation.
• Pay a $8,963 penalty.

EPA and the Tribe entered into an administrative order on consent in December 2017 for violations of the SDWA at the drinking water system, and EPA issued an emergency administrative order in June 2019 after finding the Tribe failed to adequately disinfect drinking water at the system, posing an imminent and substantial threat to human health. To date, the Tribe has failed to comply with the requirements for both EPA orders. The Tribe has incurred numerous violations of the SDWA, including failing to ensure adequate disinfection, exceeding standards for E. coli, failing to collect routine samples for contaminants, failing to ensure the system is operated by a qualified operator, and failing to comply with public notification requirements.

The settlement is subject to a 30-day public comment period. Visit DOJ’s website to read the proposed settlement and for information on how to submit a comment.