CC Min 2003-07-28 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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PWS Director Ingram stated that recycled water is widely used in Santa Clara County and read into the record the letter attached to the staff report from John D. Longwell, M.D. of the Santa Clara County Medical Association addressed to Mr. Carl Mosher, Director of Environmental Services dated July 10, 2002 (page 8.8.11). He read a second letter addressed to Mayor Claire from Brian J. Zamora, Director of the Public Health; Dean D. Peterson, Environmental Health Director; and Scott Morrow, Health Officer of the Health Services Agency dated July 16, 2003 also included with the staff report (page 8.13.10). The last presenter via video was Dr. Sang -ick Chang, Medical Director of Outpatient Services for San Mateo Medical Center, a Board certified family practitioner and continues to practice medicine in addition to his administrative duties. He stated his medical training was from UCSF Medical School and San Francisco General Hospital in family practice. He stated that he has served in the public sector his entire medical career. He stated that he has reviewed the documents before the Council and asked himself the question, "if a child were to play on or touch vegetation watered by recycled water and then put that finger or hand in his or her mouth, or if they were to suck on a blade of grass watered with recycled water and if they were to do this on an occasional or even a regular basis, could they conceivably become ill, either in an immediate or a delayed fashion "? He concluded that there is no credible threat to the health of children from this use of recycled water. Documentation states that the water undergoes multiple chemical and biological treatments to reduce the level of these contaminants that are lower than that currently allowed for use in recreational water. He stated that the amount of ingestion involved where the concentrations of any of these contaminants are measured in parts per million, billion and trillion are so miniscule and so infrequent that their ability to do medical harm is essentially nonexistent. In conclusion, he stated that it is his best medical judgment that the proposal to use recycled water for the purposes outlined poses no credible medical risk for the residents of San Mateo County. PWS Director Ingram summarized that recycled water is not new in California, in the country or the world and has a long and safe history, especially in the state of California. He displayed a map showing some of the major sites throughout the state with recycled programs in place and described many of the projects. He concluded with saying that a reliable water supply is an essential benefit to our community that assures the city's future and the well being of our citizens. He strongly recommended adoption of the resolutions and approval of the project in the near future. Council questions ensued and included why our water allocation is so unfair to the city's residents versus other communities obtaining water from the SFPUC, property disclosure requirements, emerging components, cost benefit analysis and the qualifications of Dr. Atkinson -Barr. REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 28, 2003 MINUTES PAGE 9 MINUTES Book No. 60 Page No. 09