ALAMEDA — More than 50 people attended a community meeting Wednesday afternoon after authorities discovered tap water was not fit to drink at the former Alameda Naval Air Station.
Among those at the meeting — which followed a city alert — were Alameda Vice Mayor Malia Vella and City Councilman Jim Oddie, as well as other city officials and representatives from the East Bay Municipal Utilities District and the State Water Resources Control Board.
The meeting, hosted by the city, took place about 1 p.m. at Michaan’s Auctions theater at Alameda Point, the current name of the former Navy base.
EBMUD officials said late Tuesday that a possible cross-contamination between a potable water drinking line and a non-potable water line used for irrigation spurred city staff to issue the alert.
The city made 10 portable showers available for affected residents, according to Sarah Henry, a city spokeswoman.
The showers were located in the parking lot of the Alameda Fire Department Training Facility, 431 Stardust Place.
Henry noted that people should not drink or use tap water for cooking or bathing at Alameda Point, and were told to avoid bodily contact, until the city or EBMUD has given an all-clear.
A partial lifting of the advisory came at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, with bodily contact permitted once residents and businesses had flushed pipes and fixtures before use for bathing and showering. Drinking, cooking or consuming with water was still not recommended.
Water still can be used for toilet flushing, however.
People wishing to help affected residents can drop off baby wipes, disposable diapers and hand sanitizers at the Alameda Point Collaborative, 677 W. Ranger Ave.
The Red Cross is providing bottled water and paper goods.
The water quality alert will not be lifted until the State Water Resources Control Board Division of Drinking Water deems the water safe for drinking and for bodily contact.
No immediate health threat was found, Henry said.
City officials said their issuing of a 48-hour alert Tuesday was confined to just Alameda Point and that the problem apparently stemmed from old infrastructure at the former Navy base.
As of Wednesday afternoon, 268 residents and more than 60 businesses were affected, Henry said. The areas were west of Main Street.
Coast Guard Housing, Bayport, and the Summer House and the Atlantic apartment complexes were not affected.
Each of the areas are in the city’s West End and near the Posey and Webster tubes. The tubes link Alameda with Oakland.
Lynne Moore-Kerr, the director of Head Start and the Early Head Start programs for Alameda Family Services, which are located on the former Navy base, said about 60 families connected with the programs were among those who could not access tap water.
“The testing just happened last night,” Kerr said Wednesday. “So how long has this been an issue? We are going to look at that and monitor the children’s health and well-being as best we can.”
Failing infrastructure has long stalled redevelopment of the former military base: Alameda Point Partners, a team of developers aiming to transform a portion of the site with homes, retail and office space, has pledged to replace some of the crumbling pipes and roads.
City officials hope the work will be a catalyst toward the overall redevelopment of Alameda Point, which makes up about one-third of the city, and that the work will attract investors.
The plans from Alameda Point Partners include building a new ferry terminal.
EBMUD crews were assessing water systems Tuesday throughout the neighborhood.
Residents were advised not to drink water from faucets, and not to use tap water to brush teeth, wash dishes, cook or hydrate pets.
Bottled water was available for residents at City Hall West, 950 West Mall Square. People also could call a city hotline at 510-747-7460 for information.
The hotline received more than 100 calls on Wednesday afternoon.
