Health officials tell some well owners again water unsafe
State health officials have informed several Salisbury homeowners near Duke Energy's coal ash basins that their water is unsafe to drink, changing course again on guidance over elevated contaminant levels in private wells.
Posted — UpdatedAt least one Salisbury well owner with elevated levels, Janet McKinney, said Thursday afternoon that she still hadn't been contacted (a DHHS spokeswoman disputed this, claiming McKinney was contacted Wednesday).
For her neighbor, Marcos Albarran, Williams' call Wednesday marks the third time state officials have issued guidance over the use of his well water.
"It kind of helps me understand what's going on with this issue, but at the same time, it's kind of confusing," Albarran said.
A letter in May 2015 first advised him not to drink or cook with his water after DHHS officials said levels of hexavalent chromium and vanadium exceeded a health screening threshold. Nearly a year later, in March 2016, the state reversed that recommendation for his well and more than 200 others. Health and environmental officials at the time said they determined his water "is as safe to drink as water in most cities and towns across the state and country."
Regulators with the Department of Environmental Quality are working to determine whether the coal ash pits are the cause of the contamination, although Duke has long attributed it to natural sources.
That 11-page report, Williams has said, largely drove his decision to lift do-not-drink recommendations in March.
Yet, in the days before his sworn May 18 deposition, Williams said, he decided to again advise residents not to drink well water with hexavalent chromium higher than 10 parts per billion "after it came to my attention that the groundwater standard for chromium was 10."
When reached Thursday afternoon, DHHS communications staffers did not directly answer questions about the safety advisory process, saying they'd have to check with officials in the Division of Public Health. Agency spokeswoman Kendra Gerlach said four well owners were advised Wednesday not to drink their water.
In an emailed statement, DHHS spokeswoman Kate Murphy attributed the two-week delay to the division's effort to be "collaborative."
"Division of Public Health staff felt a letter was warranted, and that has taken more time than a phone call," Murphy said, adding that Williams called the residents to explain a letter was coming and give them a chance to ask questions. "That decision was made well before the WRAL story."
That meant, for nearly three months, DHHS officials recommended that well owners like Phyllis Loflin-Kluttz and her neighbor, William Moore, could safely drink their water. Moore said the delay showed "a total lack of any sense of urgency about the matter."
"That kind of thing is why people don't trust the government," Moore said.
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