List Of Arsenic-Tainted Wells Continues To Grow

Hernando Today

SPRING LAKE - Jeanne Gavish is well number 116 on the Hernando County Health Department's growing list.

The department so far has tested some 200 private wells for the toxic metal arsenic in an area near Batten and Powell roads, according to environmental manager Al Gray.

Gavish, who lives on Old Spring Lake Road, recently got the report for her well.

The result: 53.1 parts per billion. That's five times the level of arsenic deemed safe by the federal and state governments.

Arsenic is a natural element found on the periodic table and is often found in water at low levels. But it also is a by-product of agricultural and industrial uses that can cause elevated levels in wells.

Long-term exposure to arsenic has been linked to cancer of the bladder, lungs, skin, kidneys, nasal passages, liver and prostate.

"We've been drinking bottled water ever since we found out," Gavish said. "And I understand there are people worse off than me."

In fact, of the wells tested so far, 62 have levels above 10 parts per billion, Gray said.

The health department began collecting the samples in February after a Batten Road resident voiced concerns about high levels found during a test at her home.

Since then the department has collected samples in half-mile increments. The list of wells above the safe limit continues to lengthen, and the sampling area now covers several square miles, Gray said.

The testing area will continue to expand until results are consistently at or under the level deemed safe, Gray said.

The State Department of Environmental Protection will try to pinpoint the source by analyzing the hydrology and topography of the area, said DEP spokeswoman Pam Vazquez.

One of the suspected sources is pesticides used for agricultural operations such as orange groves, Gray said.

Another possible culprit: So-called "dip vats" used until 1964 to treat cattle with chemical concoctions to kill the ticks that caused cattle fever. The pits, usually made of concrete and about seven feet long, were typically emptied each spring, according to the Florida Extension Service.

The used chemicals were typically dumped in pits or buried.

Cattle have grazed on the gently rolling hills of Spring Lake for decades, and many of the vats themselves have since been buried, Gray said.

"You can't see them, but they're there in the ground," he said.

So far, the highest levels - 165 parts per billion - have been found in a well at employee housing for the Pleasant Valley Dairy on Powell Road.

Filters installed for entire home

For years, the level of arsenic deemed safe in drinking water was 50 parts per billion. That changed as of January, 2006 after more research came in, said Charlie Donahue, environmental manager for the Florida Department of Health.

Officials the set daily ingestion of 10 parts per billion over 30 years as safe, Donahue said.

Research shows skin cancer is among the most common effects of ingestion; perhaps ironically, the skin acts a good barrier to arsenic, so exposure from showering and bathing isn't considered a great concern, Donahue said.

The DEP's first responsibility is to get clean water to the residents whose water exceeds safe levels, Vazquez said.

Until about mid-September, the department provided a kitchen filter for residents' homes.

Now the department has begun to install free of charge a so-called point-of-entry system that filters arsenic from all the water that goes into the home, Vazquez said.

DEP recently installed such a system at the Batten Road home of Mark and Rita Faltus, whose well showed more than nine times the accetable level of arsenic. The couple and their 17-year-old son live not far from Renee Holcomb, the resident who first raised concerns about higher levels in her water.

The Faltuses have lived in the home since about the time their son was born and have used bottled water for drinking and cooking for years, Rita Faltus said.

But, she added, "We definitely weren't going to feel comfortable about this until they did something for the whole house."

Holcomb, whose well had nearly 10 times the safe level also has a point-of-entry system, has done much research on the subject and was surprised to find other parts of Florida with similar problems of elevated arsenic.

More residents should be aware of studies by the National Academy of Sciences, Holcomb said.

According to the studies, one out of 100 people who drink water containing 50 ppb of arsenic will get cancer, based on drinking two liters of water per day over the course of a lifetime.

"In my personal opinion," Holcomb said, "more people should get their wells tested."