Persistence of Carcinogens in Private Well Drinking Water

The City of Stamford is the fourth largest city in Connecticut. While a municipal water supply is available to most residents,there are over 5,000 homes that rely on private well water for domestic use. In 2008, testing was performed for the US EPA concerning private well water contamination from a municipal dump. While the dump was later exonerated, the City initiated a testing program in homes nearby and at a homeowners request for pesticides and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). There were 209 wells tested (this included city parks)and 47 of the wells were found to have pesticides, particularly dieldren and to a lesser extent, chlordane. The initial testing showed the contaminated wells to be scattered throughout the City of Stamford and public health officials urged for all residents with wells to test and share private well testing results. This provided additional information for 222 wells. Staff mapped results and shared data collected with State officials. In 2011, another survey was performed by the city on 34 wells distributed across the north Stamford area and more wells were found to have pesticides. Stamford is not significantly different than many towns in the United States which experienced a population increase, turning agricultural land into residential suburbs and we believe that the presence of these pesticides will be seen across the country in similar communities. It is paramount to share this information with public health officials throughout the country to make them aware of this contamination, educate private well owners of the presence of these pesticides in drinking water and to describe how public health officials, municipal leaders and the Stamford community has come together to address this serious public health threat through educating the community and developing local policy for private well testing.