On Monday, Representative George Whitesides joined members of the Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency to announce a new $1 million federal investment that will help remove dangerous PFAS chemicals from the community’s drinking water.
PFAS, or “forever chemicals,” are unhealthy toxins that exist in the groundwater supply and can cause major health problems if not properly treated.
Rep. Whitesides stated that access to clean water should be a standard, not a privilege, for families in the Santa Clarita Valley and the surrounding Los Angeles County communities.
“No parents should have to worry about whether the water their child is drinking contains harmful chemicals,” said Rep. Whitesides. “At the end of the day, I think about my family and my kids. We want our family members to be drinking safe, clean water, and we have great water in the Santa Clarita Valley; we have a great water agency and this is just going to support their efforts to make sure all the families in Santa Clarita are drinking great, clean water.”
The federal funding, which took Rep. Whitesides more than a year to secure in Congress’s annual budget, will go toward new PFAS treatment vessels used by SCV Water infrastructure, designed to remove these chemicals from Santa Clarita’s groundwater supply.
“We (referring to city officials) started our meetings related to the appropriations process almost as soon as I got sworn in,” said Rep. Whitesides.
He added that there were multiple meetings to understand the scope of the project better and to work with other members of Congress so they could understand the value of the investment for the Santa Clarita Valley.
Specifically, the funds will help reopen two water treatment wells that had previously been shut down and will be dedicated to removing PFAS chemicals from groundwater that flows into the drinking water supply.
SCV Water Vice President Gary Martin stated that when he met with Rep. Whitesides last June, he emphasized that SCV Water needs support from the federal government.
“We’re very grateful for the $1.1 million that will be provided for this project,” said Martin. “It’s going to reduce the burden… for paying for this underground water containment.”
With the proper funding secured, SCV Water is expected to reactivate operations of the previously closed water treatment wells soon.
