No surprise: Arsenic in wells alarms residents

By Times editorial
Published July 10, 2007

We're reasonably sure that state Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Pamela Vasquez was sincere when she said there was no need for "widespread alarm." But for the residents whose wells are contaminated with unacceptable levels of arsenic, alarm is an absolutely appropriate response.

As reported Sunday by Times staff writer Dan DeWitt, at least a dozen wells in a rural area south of Brooksville are tainted with more arsenic than both the state and federal governments deem safe. The amount of the poison, a toxic metal that has no taste or odor, is not enough to make residents ill immediately, but over time it increases the risk of birth defects and cancer.

The DEP and Hernando County Health Department are monitoring how concentrated and widespread the contamination is, and water filters have been provided to some residents. However, given the serious health risk, resident Renee Holcomb, whose well is at the epicenter of the known pollution, believes the agencies should expedite testing. She also thinks the state should require all private wells to be tested for arsenic, as they now are for bacteria, when they are first drilled.

The DEP should grant Holcomb's request to speed up the testing to determine how extensive it is. The sooner that can be confirmed, the sooner all efforts can be focused on safeguarding the affected residents' water supplies and assessing if they have suffered any ill effects from the arsenic, which most likely is the result of dipping cows and spraying citrus trees years ago.

Holcomb's assertion that all new wells should be tested for arsenic also is worth exploring. On its face, the idea seems reasonable and prudent, and if there is a downside to that pursuit, the DEP should specify its objections.

For now, we urge the DEP to fulfill its pledge to ensure that affected residents have "a safe source of drinking water." At the same time, the agency should keep in mind that residents' degree of alarm intensifies - justifiably - the closer they are to the source of the contamination.

[Last modified July 9, 2007, 22:08:39]