Water ban lifted after tests find no corrosive

Associated Press

HOUSTON

A nearly four-day ban on drinking the water in Corpus Christi, Texas, was lifted Sunday after test results showed no contamination due to a chemical leak, the city’s mayor announced.

Mayor Dan McQueen said residents could resume using the city’s water supply for drinking, bathing and cooking.

“It is all full use but we are going to continue to monitor as we go on,” McQueen said.

None of the 28 drinking water samples the Environmental Protection Agency reviewed tested positive for Indulin AA-86, an asphalt-emulsifying agent that’s corrosive, the federal agency said Sunday in a statement. Indulin can burn the eyes, skin and respiratory tract if a person comes into contact with concentrated amounts.

The water ban had been issued late Wednesday out of concern that a chemical leak at an asphalt plant leased to Ergon Asphalt and Emulsions by oil refiner Valero could have contaminated the city’s water supply.

The EPA said there have been seven “unconfirmed” reports of symptoms possibly related to prohibited water use. The federal agency, along with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, will continue collecting and testing water samples over the next few days.