Like many Sussex County residents that live outside town limits, Coffman relies on a private well for his water.
“I just don’t trust it.” Coffman is one of 41 households on the outskirts of Blades that have had private wells tested for PFCs after Blades’ three public wells were found to contain potentially dangerous levels of the chemicals.
Earlier this month, state and federal officials warned Blades residents not to use town water for drinking, cooking and brushing their teeth after officials found the town’s public drinking water supply was contaminated by PFCs, which include a large group of chemicals including perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8 or PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonate, or PFOS.
Tests found the three town wells, which provide water to local businesses and about 1,250 residents, all exceeded the 70 parts per trillion federal health advisory limit for PFCs.
“More results from EPA sampling will be coming in and requests for testing can still be made through DNREC,” Globetti said in an email.
“If I had any doubts at all, I’d certainly get it checked.” Elzey’s neighbor Pat Linnane is following his lead.
People on private wells, unlike publicly regulated water systems, must request or conduct their own testing for any contaminants, including PFCs.
The only reason Blades’ system was tested for PFCs was because the EPA and DNREC identified three Delaware towns – Blades, Newark and Dover – as areas that could have been contaminated because of past and current industrial uses.
Because of the contamination in Blades, nearby Seaford’s public water supply also was tested and found to be free of PFCs.
While a massive carbon-filtration system has drastically reduced PFCs in the public water supply, people living on the outskirts of Blades would need to install much smaller systems on their wells or sinks to get reduce any chemical contamination.