OEPA to test home water wells around air base for chemicals

Staff report

VIENNA

Selected residential wells around the Youngstown Air Reserve Station are to be tested to determine if chemicals used in the past for fire suppression are in the groundwater.

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and the Trumbull County Department of Health will conduct the testing.

According to the Ohio EPA, wells are being tested in light of new drinking water health advisory levels issued by the federal EPA.

The Ohio EPA and local health department officials are approaching residences near the base that use well water to ask permission to sample their water, said Heidi Griesmer, deputy director of communication for the Ohio EPA.

Wells will be targeted for sampling if they are potentially close enough to a base and located in the right direction to potentially be in the path of groundwater flowing away from the base.

When the Ohio EPA receives the results from the laboratory, typically three weeks after the sampling, the results will be given to the well user/property owner.

Read what will happen next in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.