When Wildfires Compromise California’s Drinking Water, Utilities Lean on This Professor’s Advice

Jennifer Lu, APM Reports

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In 2017, after the Tubbs Fire blazed through parts of California’s wine country, a Santa Rosa resident returned home to one of the few structures left standing in his fire-scarred neighborhood. He turned on the tap and reported that the water smelled like gasoline.

Sampling identified the source of the odor as benzene, a compound found in petroleum products. One sample contained 8,000 times the amount of benzene that the Environmental Protection Agency allows in drinking water…

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