Elevated PFAS levels are prompting state officials to tell a Sussex County community to avoid using tap water.
Residents of Bethany Crest in Millville are being advised to use bottled water for drinking and cooking while their water system is evaluated for PFAS contamination.
Delaware’s Division of Public Health says it received notice last week that an October 11th sample of source water serving the community had concentration of PFAS at 70 parts per trillion. That’s the EPA’s health advisory level for these compounds in drinking water.
The water system serving Bethany Crest provides water to about 50 homes. DPH notes the sample, collected during proactive screening by DNREC, was not finished drinking water after treatment. Two previous Bethany Crest samples in recent month found concentrations near the advisory level, prompting additional testing.
DPH and DNREC are working with Bethany Crest’s water system operator to test the finished drinking water to see if treatment is already be reducing the PFAS levels from the source water.
Testing of that water and other nearby source water wells is being done this weekend.
The community’s owner and water system operator are providing bottled water to residents.
PFAS are man-made chemicals long used in consumer products from food wrappers to carpets. They’re ubiquitous—popping up in groundwater and drinking water supplies across the country—but they’re not well understood. The CDC says some studies in humans suggest high levels of certain PFAS may increase cholesterol levels, increase the risk of pregnancy complications, affect the immune system and increase the risk of some cancers.
PFAS levels in Delaware have been on the minds of state officials.
Gov. Carney signed a billlast week requiring the state environmental and health agencies to develop an enforceable drinking water standard—called a maximum contaminant level, or MCL—for PFOS and PFOA. That would mean public water systems proactively testing for the contaminants, and treating any water that exceeds the MCL.
And in July, Delaware secured $50 millionto handle PFAS contamination statewide under a settlement with companies associated with production of the toxic chemicals.
Delaware settled with Dupont, Corteva and Chemours for the distribution of the chemicals and any release of them in the Delaware River, Bay, or other natural resources in the state.
Delaware has previously seen elevated PFAS levels in water in the New Castle area, around Dover Air Force Base and in the Blades community in Sussex County.
