BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — An unknown substance was recently found in the water of the Kern River, and while officials say the substance, found to contain diesel hydrocarbons, does not pose any harm to the public, the city's public information officer Joe Conroy says the decision was made to inform the public in the interest of transparency.
"These diesel hydrocarbons, even though that was below what would be required to be reported to the public, we felt it was just in the best interest of the public to be transparent about it, let them know that we found it and we're taking care of it now," said Conroy.
According to Conroy, the hydrocarbons found near the Hart Park area are a component of diesel fuel, and testing in the area found concentration to be roughly equivalent to one-tenth of one drop in a million drops of water.
According to Bakersfield District Manager for Cal Water Tammy Johnson, the state is continuing to monitor the river to ensure the safety of residents and natural habitat.
"The initial sampling that we did was non-detectable, and we ended up doing another round of sampling just to confirm, and we did have one sample come back that was slightly over the detection limit," said Johnson.
Johnson says even though the levels came back as nonthreatening, monitoring of the river will go on indefinitely since the source of the substance is still unknown.
"We will be continuing to monitor the sources of intake off of the river for our treatment plants, and we will be monitoring the treated water that's being delivered to the customers as well," said Johnson.
As monitoring continues, officials are urging any members of the community who have any information on how the hydrocarbons got into the river, to please email either EH@KernCounty.com (Kern County Public Health) or Prevention@BakersfieldFire.US (City of Bakersfield).
