By Ken Alltucker and Kathy Tulumello | The Republic
State inspectors from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality collected drinking-water samples from Johnson Utilities on Monday to check whether nitrate levels have returned to safe levels.
On Friday, ADEQ warned Johnson Utilities’ customers in Pinal County that high levels of nitrates in water made it unsafe for infants to drink. ADEQ warned the water company’s customers not to give infants under the age of 6 months any tap water or use it in infant formula.
Although Johnson Utilities said in a statement later Friday evening that more recent samples showed nitrate levels were within allowable standards, ADEQ officials as of Monday had not received any evidence that the water’s nitrate levels meet allowable standards.”We still do not have any data from Johnson Utilities that demonstrates the water is meeting the federal standards,” Caroline Oppleman, ADEQ spokeswoman, said Monday.
