Delaware residents alarmed by contaminated wells

February 26, 2008 - Donovan said she was alarmed by an article in The Sunday News Journal saying that four property owners less than half a mile away will be offered free hookups to public water because of toxic substances in their well water. Donovan and other residents surrounding decades-old toxic spill sites north of Delaware City called on environmental regulators to take more aggressive efforts to inform the public.

"We haven't had our well tested in a while, and I am concerned," said Donovan, who sells animal feed and raises goats. "I haven't heard anything for a long time about the problems they have over there, and I want to know more about it."

David Small, deputy secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, said his office is evaluating whether enough is being done to inform residents about pollution in the area.

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Cancer-causing chemicals taint Delaware wells

February 24, 2008 - Earlier this month, Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control notified owners of four properties near U.S. 13 and Wrangle Hill Road that they would be eligible for free United Water Delaware connections. The offer followed the unexplained appearance of a cancer-causing chemical, ethylene dichloride, in a well near the St. Georges Getty service station just north of the car dealership.

Officials had assured area residents for more than two decades that pollution from the site of the old Stauffer Chemical Co. toxic-waste landfills to the north was under control. That they were wrong underscores how little is known about how toxic chemicals make their way through complex geological formations into drinking-water supplies.

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