In the Central Valley of California, hundreds of wells that provide water to a million people are tainted with a chemical that some experts say is one of the most powerful cancer-causing agents in the world.
The state is poised to take the first step Tuesday to regulate the substance — called 1,2,3, TCP — but test data compiled by an activist group show it's also been detected by utilities across the country.
First time I've heard of this TCP chemical in the water but it doesn't surprise me that an agricultural area like central California has contaminated water. Most of the ground water in American has been contaminated by decades of pesticides use on crops and those pesticides make their way into the water supplies after heavy rains and ground water seepage.
Living in major agricultural producing state like North Dakota our water is highly contaminated with all the chemicals sprayed on the crops That's why I use a Propur to filter my water because it gets rid of the pesticides and fluoride in the water. A great investment for a couple of hundred dollars.
TCP is a degreasing agent used in the production of plastic products. Lawyer Todd Robbins says the chemical's presence in water supplies across California's Central Valley is largely attributable to two industrial giants that recycled TCP by packaging it with agricultural pesticides.
"TCP got into drinking water in the Central Valley because Dow Chemical Company and Shell Oil Company saw an opportunity decades ago to take a hazardous waste stream at their chemical plants, put it in barrels and sell it to farmers, who would then inject it into the ground," Robbins said.
Ah, would look at that. It's the usual suspects that are above the law causing all these problems for California. I think it's a sick, sick joke by the executive of these companies that convert industrial waste into a "safe" product to be used on our food. Benzene and fluoride are good example of this and now we can add TCPs to that list as well.
When are these companies going to start compensating the health care industry for increasing the cancer rates in these areas?
A map of all the areas that tested high for TCP in California.