BRACEVILLE Arsenic levels high in wells, officials say

A public waterline could be one solution to arsenic-laced wells.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
BRACEVILLE -- Potentially dangerous levels of arsenic were found in about one-third of more than 50 residential wells tested near Vaughn Elementary in January, local health officials say.
The Ohio Department of Health plans to come to the area Wednesday to re-test the wells, check their depth and examine the geology of the area where the contaminated water was found.
"You can't base anything on just one set of results," said Frank Migliozzi, director of environmental health for Trumbull County Board of Health.
If a second set of water samples to be collected Wednesday confirms what has been found, the department of health may issue recommendations to residents not to drink the water, said Jay Carey, an ODH spokesman.
Linked to cancers: Prolonged consumption of small amounts of arsenic is linked to lung cancer, skin cancer, bladder cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer, and prostate cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The element occurs naturally in northeast Ohio.
Of 53 private wells tested in January, 17 had levels of arsenic exceeding the department of health's safety threshold of 10 parts per billion, Carey said.
The arsenic-heavy wells seem to be confined to an area around Braceville-Robinson Road and state Route 82, Migliozzi said.
Homeowners signed up and paid to have their wells tested after water from Vaughn Elementary wells was found to have high levels of arsenic, and the schoolchildren were prevented from drinking the water.
Regulated: Public water supplies like schools are regulated by the EPA, which permits systems to operate with 50 parts per billion of arsenic, but that will change to 10 parts per billion in 2006, said Andy Thompson, an Ohio EPA spokesman.
A December test found 100 parts per billion of arsenic in the Vaughn water supply. Subsequent tests at Vaughn found lower levels. The most recent test, in February, found 48 parts per billion of arsenic, he said.
The elementary school is scheduled to close in 2004, when the LaBrae Board of Education opens a new facility. But residents who plan on sticking around may have to look toward buying a system to clean their well water or getting their water from another source.
Township trustees have revived the notion of extending a waterline about one mile to serve homes in the neighborhood around the school, said Dennis Kuchta, a township trustee. A proposal to bring the waterline out about half the distance to the school, to a fire station on Braceville-Robinson Road, was dropped last year because of the $300,000 price, he said.