Daniel Trotta

TEVISTON CA (Reuters) – Teviston is a San Joaquin Valley town with two wells. One of them went dry, the other one is now contaminated.

One of the few remaining well-functioning water pumps failed at the beginning of summer. This left the village without running water for several weeks. Temperatures regularly exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) meant that farm workers had to use buckets for their baths when they returned from laboring in almond orchards nearby.

Even though officials were able to restore some pressure by using trucked-in water and that well was finally repaired, hardships continue. Since June, when the well burst in June, bottled water has been provided to the 400-700 people of Teviston.

But for years, probably decades, the water coming from Teviston taps has been laced with the carcinogen 1,2,3-Trichloropropane, or 1,2,3-TCP, the legacy of pesticides.

This drought in Western America, which is the worst for over 125 years, has been a major problem in communities around the San Joaquin Valley. People living at the edge of agricultural land are able to harvest many of the crops and receive very little from California’s 50 billion-dollar agriculture industry.

Esperanza Guerrero is 35-years-old and an immigrant from Mexico. Her husband, Esperanza, works on a dairy farm. Poor water quality presents additional risks for Esperanza’s 16-year old daughter. She can only consume purified water as she has a stomach condition.

Guerrero stated, “It is very stressful for a mother to learn that she can wash a piece (with tap water), and then eat it.” Guerrero was picking up water at the local community depot.

Teviston was not a retail or commercial company and won a settlement of $3 million from Dow Chemical Company, Shell (LON) Oil Company, and distributors. This will cover a water treatment facility.

Dow did not comment on Teviston’s allegations, however, he stated there was no merit to similar claims made by San Joaquin Valley jurisdictions.

Plaintiffs claim in these lawsuits are based in part on the California water quality standard, which was implemented in 2018, many decades after product formulations were discontinued. The company stated in a statement that TCP would not have been present in any of its past products if it was found in them.

Shell did not comment on the active litigation.

According to Todd Robins of Robins Borghei LLP in San Francisco, the settlement will allow Teviston to resolve its dilemma about whether safe water is available or not. Robins has previously represented towns such as Teviston during similar cases.

By politicians, farmers and engineers who altered the courses of powerful rivers to bring water hundreds of miles away from the valley, which is wide and flat in many directions, the barren, deserted land of San Joaquin Valley was transformed into one the most fertile plains of the planet.

Both surface and groundwater have been affected by the drought.

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for operating canals that move surface water further south than Northern California. This year, it has cut farmers’ allotments: First, to only 5% of the normal and then to nothing.

This has led to an increased need for aquifers. The water table is being lowered by growers operating their own wells, which affects neighboring communities like Teviston, who rely on the well water.

Many environmentalists outside the valley criticize growers. Teviston’s people don’t see them as an enemy.

“We have to support the farmers. Frank Galaviz (a director of the town council) said, “Without the farms, there’s no work.” He is now Teviston’s most prominent water advocate.

THE ENEMY BELOW

The farmers have always faced another problem, aside from drought.

Under the ground, tiny insects called nematodes can infest roots. Robins claims that growers used to inject their soil with Telone (made by Dow) and D-D (made by Shell) for decades. Robins has compiled the history of contamination by 1,2,3 TCP through approximately 70 lawsuits.

TCP, which was discovered to be carcinogenic in 1990 by health officials, would remain in water tables for many years unless it was filtered. According to state data, California’s TCP problems are concentrated in San Joaquin Valley.

Robins stated that Telone and D-D are essentially byproducts of chemical processes. The companies were able to sell the byproduct to farmers to enable them to dispose of it.

Robins added, “It’s dirty secrets,” that Dow’s Telone II formula was made more effective after TCP and other impurities had been removed.

Teviston is still waiting for a treatment facility, but its TCP levels are above the safe limit. TCP testing in May showed that the TCP level was almost three times the safe limit. In March, it exceeded seven times, according the Safe Drinking water Information System of Texas. Teviston’s September reading was negligible. Experts believe this could have been due to the drought or a new well.

Teviston’s history of marginalization goes back almost 100 years, as Black workers arrived on the white-owned cotton farm to take over. The farmers sought Black workers but the workers weren’t welcome in white towns. They created a tent town that would become Teviston. The workforce became an immigrant Mexican population over the years, which was another class that was politically marginalized. White family farms began to be supplanted with larger factory farms by large corporations.      

Dorris Brooks is an African American woman living at Teviston’s waterline. She said that past attempts to improve water quality have not resulted in permanent relief.

Brooks stated that you can actually see the sludge coming out of the tap.

Brooks moved to Teviston in adulthood 43 years back.

Brooks stated that Brooks was surprised at how the company managed to get away with causing water damage and affecting people’s lives. “There are many sick people in this area.”