Arizona Public Radio | Your Source for NPR News
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
SERVICE ALERT:

Our 88.7 transmitter site sustained a fire of unknown origin. We have installed a bypass that has returned us to full power for most, though repairs are still ongoing. Our HD service remains inoperable. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we continue to work on the transmitter. Online streaming remains unaffected.
Science and Innovations

Hopi Cultural Center to Reduce Arsenic in Drinking Water

Hopi Cultural Center

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered the Hopi Cultural Center to reduce the arsenic in its drinking water.

Arsenic is a naturally occurring carcinogen widespread in the West.  Levels in the drinking water at the Hopi Cultural Center average 12 parts per billion, slightly above the EPA’s standard of 10 ppb.  

Alexis Strauss is EPA’s acting administrator for the region. “The agreement requires them to come up with ways to treat the water that they’re serving, and to come back to us with a plan,” she says. “So I think we have some really good early steps to ensure they stay on track.”

The Hopi Cultural Center is located east of Tuba City and includes a restaurant and hotel. Its water system serves about two dozen employees as well as visitors. The Hopi Tribe has six months to install treatment technology. Bottled water will be given to guests in the meantime.

Strauss says this order is part of a multiyear arsenic management plan that seeks to improve drinking water for the Hopi Nation.

Melissa joined KNAU's team in 2015 to report on science, health, and the environment. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR and been featured on Science Friday. She grew up in Tucson, Arizona, where she fell in love with the ecology and geology of the Sonoran desert.
Related Content