How Safe is Drinking Water? /EPA Report

The July 28, 2010 EPA/DEP report confirmed our environmental concerns regarding the excessive levels of arsenic in the groundwater & soil on the Boca Teeca golf course. The report indicates that the "primary" concern of the contaminated groundwater is that it is located less than 1 mile from drinking water wells of the city of Boca Raton, so how safe is the drinking water?

Considering that the reported contamination in shallow ground water far exceeds the GCTL and MCL for arsenic and that a large population is supplied with drinking water, drawn from local shallow wells, the Ground Water Migration Pathway merits principal concern. The full report can be downloaded from our website as shown on our page titled "environmental concerns".

Also noted in the report is the discovery of excessive levels of pesticides toxaphene and dieldrin which are similar to DDT and have health risks associated with reproductive health. See the separate research report found at the following hotlink:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1566957/pdf/envhper00392-0044.pdf

The report states: However, in the course of PSAWS fieldwork, analyses of surface soil and sediment samples, collected from the maintenance area, also revealed that concentrations of arsenic, carcinogenic PAHs and pesticide, exceeding SCTLs for direct exposure in industrial and/or residential settings. Arsenic and two pesticides (toxaphene and dieldrin) also exceeded EPA RSLs.

What are the actions of the city to assure the safety of the drinking water and what policy changes is the city planning for preventing future health risks during their development process? We have recommended the city include a requirement for PRIOR verification of the safety of the land on all development proposals that involve a land use change, but over the past several weeks the city has not included this provision in the current amendments to the city's growth management plan.

The SunSentinel published an article on this EPA/DEP report on Sat. Aug. 7th which can be found at: http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-08-06/news/fl-boca-teeca-golf-course-20100806_1_boca-teeca-golf-arsenic-inn-at-ocean-breeze/2 There are several questions that will need to be answered in order to help protect the safety of Boca Raton residents as a result of this environmental problem, such as, since the golf course is in foreclosure, who is going to pay for the clean-up of this risk to public health?