BITHLO, Fla. — Hundreds of wells in Bithlo will be tested in the next month after some residents mistakenly contaminated their drinking water with cancer-causing chemicals.
Those residents were actually trying to clean up their water because they live near an old gas station on Colonial Drive And Berkeley Street that leaked petroleum into the ground 25 years ago.
But health officials said when they added chemicals to purify the water, they accidently contaminated it.
“They had actually put in treatment systems to take care of their water, and they ended up causing another problem,” said Lori Cunniff of the Orange County Environmental Protection Division.
Of the 112 wells sampled, only four were found with contaminates from the oil spill.
Officials found chemicals, such as chloromethane and trihalomethane, which are used in refrigerants.
But two dozen wells that were perfectly fine were contaminated by residents.
Officials plan to follow-up with the residents who have contaminated wells to get them cleaned up.
WFTV
