At their Feb. 19 meeting, the Live Oak City Council discussed levels of PFAs (forever chemicals) in the city wells. PublicDomainPictures

LIVE OAK, CA (MPG) - At the Feb. 19 meeting of the Live Oak City Council, Interim Public Works Director Jeff Nelson presented an update about the levels of PFAs (forever chemicals) in the city wells.

The first detection showed 3.3 parts per trillion in Well 2 and a recent re-test showed levels of 3.4.

Nelson clarified that a level of more than 3 requires public notification but no action is required until a level of 20 parts per trillion is detected. One recommendation at that level is to blend the water with other sources and Nelson said Well 2 is already blended before distribution, bringing the level down to 2.1. 

Councilmember Nancy Santana asked for details about the levels in other city wells.

Nelson said that Well 1 had levels at 1.8 and Well 4 had 2.1. No PFAs were detected in Wells 3 and 5. Nelson said all the wells where PFAs were detected (Wells 1, 2, and 4) are west of Highway 99. 

Nelson said city staff plan to monitor the issue by testing the wells twice each year.

“We’re also going to try and figure out if we can determine what the source of the PFAs is,” Nelson said, and to determine if it’s some sort of sample contamination or if it can be attributed to the groundwater flow.

Some “detective work” over the next few months will be done, Nelson said, looking at nearby industrial sites or manufacturing businesses that could be the cause. 

While “no one wants chemicals in their water,” Nelson said, the current levels “are very low.” 

Vice-Mayor Aaron Pamma asked staff “to be proactive and try to tackle this problem and try to find a solution to what causes this contamination, sooner rather than later.”

Councilmember Bob Woten asked if there is a pattern in the levels of contamination in the surrounding areas.

Nelson replied that various jurisdictions are dealing with much higher levels. He offered Marysville as an example, which had detections of PFAs above the action level.

Councilmember Santana suggested staff reach out to the City of Marysville as part of their research into causes and potential solutions. 

Mayor Jeramy Chapdelaine said that when he spoke with representatives from the State Water Board, the Department of Drinking Water and the Office of Water Programs, they said the trend is to see higher levels near former industrial sites. Legislation to deal with this issue is still new, Chapdelaine said, and while current action is not required by the state, “it would serve us well to go ahead and continue the monitoring” to ensure levels don’t increase.

Mayor Chapdelaine added that any existing grants targeting this issue are going to focus on areas with action levels: “Those communities are going to take priority.” 

City Council then discussed the possibility of establishing the position of a public information officer. Responsibilities could include informing the public about recreational opportunities, local events, new city policies and emergency updates. 

Councilmember Woten said it would make sense to provide cross-training for an existing employee to fulfill these tasks along with their current position. 

Councilmember Santana said that if the city were to hire any new employees, it should be a School Resource Officer (SRO), so she asked if this item was recommending a new employee or promoting an existing employee. 

Vice Mayor Pamma said that the most important role of a Public Information Officer is “to increase transparency from the city to the public, which we need.” Pamma said the city needs to ensure accurate information is consistently shared with residents, which is why an official position is necessary. But he supported the idea of training existing staff to handle the tasks, since he doesn’t think it would require a dedicated full-time position. 

Mayor Chapdelaine said that an existing staff member could certainly handle the duties of updating the city’s website and social media pages to highlight events and important notices. He agreed that it would not require a full-time position, especially since the city has a contract with the Sheriff’s department, which already has a dedicated Public Information Officer to handle emergency notifications. 

The Council consensus was to assign the City’s Public Information Officer role to existing staff, so Interim City Manager Rick Crabtree will make a recommendation at a future meeting about who should be designated to fill that position. 

The next meeting of the Live Oak City Council is scheduled for March 5.