They are a group of widespread and troubling contaminants, and they could be in your drinking water. Your utility knows if they are, or it will soon. But it may not go out of its way to let you know.

An Orlando Sentinel survey found reluctance among some local utility, government and industry leaders to be fully transparent – to go beyond transparency specifically mandated by the federal government – about what’s in your drinking water.

That finding dovetails with the Sentinel’s revelations earlier this year that Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County did not publicly disclose that regular testing during much of the past decade found a chemical contaminant, 1,4-dioxane, in their supply of tap water.

They were not required to tell consumers. Although the chemical is listed as likely to cause cancer, it is one of hundreds that are not regulated by state or federal authorities for their presence in drinking water. Also unregulated are PFAS chemicals.

Yale researchers want to speak with Central Floridians affected by 1,4-dioxane

“Continuous communication strengthens public trust,” said Greg Kail, spokesperson for the American Water Works Association, an industry advocacy group, adding that water utilities may struggle with transparency in the absence of state and federal drinking water rules for a chemical.

“Characterizing risk from unregulated substances, however, can be challenging,” he said.

The PFAS family of chemicals – perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances – include PFOA, or perfluorooctanoic acid, and PFOS, or perfluorooctane sulfonic acid.

They are a chemistry tongue-twister. You know PFAS as key ingredients in Teflon, carpet, food packaging, cosmetics, waterproofing and stain blockers – and many other items in your life.

PFAS are known commonly as forever chemicals that resist degrading. They concentrate in wildlife, soil, water and you. They are linked to cancer, immune-system disruption, birth defects, high cholesterol and liver and thyroid disease.

In an effort to develop PFAS regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is requiring utilities nationally to test their tap water for 29 types of PFAS from this year into 2025.

The testing requirement, for research purposes, is mandated by the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule, or UCMR of the U.S. Safe Drinking Water Act.

Many Florida utilities are likely to find PFAS, according to previous research. They will be required to publicly reveal findings, whether concentrations are extremely small or extremely high, in the annual Consumer Confidence Reports to utility customers.

But a UCMR survey is a one-time deal. Neither the 29 types of PFAS specified by the EPA for current testing nor any of the other potentially thousands of other PFAS formulations are listed among contaminants regulated by the agency – there are 90 such substances – for their presence in drinking water.

Outside of a UCMR survey, utilities legally don’t otherwise have to watch for PFAS in their tap water, much less ever reveal to consumers if the chemicals are present.

Such a lack of transparency played out in Seminole County, as reported this summer in the Orlando Sentinel’s Toxic Secret series.

A decade ago and as part of a UCMR survey, the EPA ordered utilities nationwide to test for several chemicals that do not fall under regulations for drinking water, including 1,4-dioxane, which the EPA says is likely to cause cancer.

The chemical was found in the tap water of Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County at levels exceeding the state’s voluntary health-advisory level of 0.35 parts of 1,4-dioxane per 1 billion parts of water.

Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County utilities noted their initial discoveries of 1,4-dioxane by printing short, obscure statements in their annual reports sent to customers, which are called Consumer Confidence Reports.

The three utilities also adjusted their water systems to reduce pumping from an area of the underground Floridan Aquifer that contains 1,4-dioxane – a pollutant documented to have leaked down into the soil and water beneath a shuttered factory in Lake Mary.

Sanford to consider anti-pollution rules after 1,4-dioxane contamination

Since 2016, the drinking water of Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County has been tested regularly for 1,4-dioxane.

Year after year since then, the chemical was detected in tap water: at about half the advisory level in Sanford and Seminole County, and at several times the advisory level in Lake Mary.

Yet none of the three governments reported 1,4-dioxane to the public. They were not required to: 1,4-dioxane is unregulated for drinking water.

In reaching out to dozens of elected officials, utilities leaders and industry groups, the Orlando Sentinel asked if unregulated chemicals – which include 1,4-dioxane and PFAS – should be reported to the public if discovered in any circumstance.

Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?

Many leaders tiptoed around the question. Some were assertive in supporting unconditional transparency. Many responses were edited to meet the requested length of 50 words.

Jason Brodeur, state senator, R-Sanford: “I am committed to the ongoing process of ensuring water quality is monitored and maintained according to the most updated science available to us. Keeping our water supply safe is an ongoing process that evolves as additional information, science and circumstances change.”

Clint Bullock, Orlando Utilities Commission CEO and general manager: “OUC recognizes that potential unregulated substances in drinking water are causing concern in our community. Per the EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rules, OUC tests for unregulated substances every five years. To meet all state and federal regulations, OUC performs thousands of tests and publishes the results in OUC’s annual Water Quality Report.”

Lee Constantine, Seminole County commissioner: “Local governments should and Seminole County does inform its water customers of water quality results, violations and additional testing results, including unregulated contaminants, through the EPA-required Consumer Confidence Report. With hundreds, maybe thousands, of other unregulated contaminants, it would be extremely helpful….if the federal and state agencies provided sufficient and clearer guidelines.”

Casey Cook, Florida League of Cities chief of legislative affairs: “The question you have asked is whether state and federal law should be changed to require some kind of enhanced public disclosure by utilities. The League recently commenced its legislative policy development process for 2024. Consequently, we have not developed a policy position on the question you have posed.”

Blaine Darrah, Seminole County resident and former board member for the Heathrow Master Community Association: “The new ones that could be of concern, like 1,4 dioxane, should be reported. Your question raises an issue – how many ‘unregulated contaminants’ exist in water? What other contaminants exist? Are they serious enough to measure and report regularly? That is why we have EPA guidelines in this country.”

Jerry Demings, Orange County mayor: “Orange County Utilities performs over 300,000 lab analyses each year and complies with all state and federal drinking water standards. The EPA-mandated testing for unregulated contaminants may be of interest to our residents, and therefore, we stand by our continued commitment to transparency and sharing information about our water quality.”

Buddy Dyer, Orlando mayor: “I think utilities should report as much as they can. I certainly think if they discover a contaminant, even if not on the EPA list, to the extent they know they have a toxic or dangerous chemical within their water, they should report that. The question becomes if it’s unregulated, what is the level of being dangerous?”

Anna Eskamani, state representative, D-Orlando: “Yes, consumers should absolutely be notified immediately, and be given opportunities to ask questions, express concerns, and be a part of the solution. As elected officials we should always engage in co-governance, especially when it comes to the health of our water supplies.”

Seminole considers urging legislators to adopt stricter drinking water protections

Adrienne Esposito, Citizens Campaign for the Environment executive director: “When it comes to contaminants in drinking water, ignorance isn’t bliss, ignorance is dangerous. It is imperative that the public is informed and routinely updated about water quality test results. Public education fosters support and understanding for legislative and policy changes crafted to protect our essential water resource.”

Kenneth Goodman, University of Miami Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy founder and director: “The duty of transparency is rarely trumped by concerns about causing disquiet or even panic. Managing this tension can be tricky. One approach is guided by principles of public health transparency – just the facts, with as much health information as possible. Trust citizens to be partners, not adversaries.”

Andria Herr, Seminole County commissioner: “Seminole County should inform customers of water quality results and include unregulated contaminants consistent with EPA guidelines….I have also asked for dashboards to be created for this and other critical items to make it easy to share the outcomes of our work with our citizens.”

Greg Kail, American Water Works Association spokesman: “In general, it’s good practice to communicate proactively about water quality, including unregulated substances. Continuous communication strengthens public trust. Characterizing risk from unregulated substances, however, can be challenging. The concentration of a contaminant in water and how long it is consumed are key factors in determining if it’s harmful.”

Frank Martz, Altamonte Springs city manager: “We already produce and distribute an annual comprehensive water quality report to our water customers. If someday we do detect something of concern, we would retest to ensure it was not a false positive. If the detection is confirmed, there is already a process for notification within the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule.”

Gabrielle Milch, environmental scientist and supervisor for the Seminole County Soil and Water Conservation District: “We should be told about [an unregulated toxic substance], but with caveats because you could cause fear in certain people. We don’t want to scare people by saying that there is an unregulated chemical in their water or create the impression that all water is unsafe. It’s a complicated issue. I don’t know the answer.”

Kim Ornberg, director of environmental services for Seminole County: “Seminole County informs its water customers of water quality results, violations, and additional testing results, including unregulated contaminants, through the EPA-required Consumer Confidence Report (CCR), also known as an annual drinking water quality report. Seminole County’s CCR is shared through utility bills and is posted to the county’s website.”

Art Woodruff, mayor of Sanford: “Few things are more important than the water we drink, and Sanford’s water supply meets or exceeds all guidelines set by federal and state regulators. We regularly test our drinking water and were among the first to bring the issue of 1,4-dioxane to the attention of regulators and the public.”

Emery Rosenbluth, Seminole County resident since 1970: “I believe utilities should be required to meaningfully (sufficiently publicized) disclose the discovery of unregulated contaminants to both local government and its customers. I recognize a counter-argument that such information could lead to public overreaction but I am persuaded by our citizenry’s ability to understand matters critical to their health.”

Lake Mary water plant destroys ‘tricky’ 1,4-dioxane with high-tech solution unique to Florida

Lenny Siegel, Center for Public Environmental Oversight executive director: “There is little doubt that 1,4 dioxane is toxic. People whose water supply contains it should be informed, so they can make personal risk management decisions. Other factors go into ‘regulating’ water contaminants, so no one should be reassured by the lack of a required drinking water standard.”

State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando: “It is the responsibility of the utility to act in good faith and report detected contaminants to its customers. The utility, or any entity that may detect or know of a contaminant, should report these findings to our state’s Department of Environmental Protection. Utilities and the DEP alike should seek guidance on minimizing unregulated substances.”

Amy Walker, Oaks of Timacuan homeowner association president: “As cancer survivors, we try to make good choices when it comes to what we ingest. It’s common sense to expect our communities to inform us when there are contaminants in the water. Utilities should be required by law to inform their customers when contaminants and carcinogens are found.”

David Zusi, Winter Park utilities director: “When, in accordance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, utilities are required to sample for unregulated compounds, they are also required to report test results to the US Environmental Protection Agency, and to customers in their annual Consumer Confidence Report. This report is posted and available on the utility website and easily accessible to the public.”

Organizations that would not comment or respond to the Sentinel’s inquiry were the American Cancer Society, American Chemistry Council, Interstate Technology and Regulatory Council, National Association of Clean Water Agencies and the Florida Association of Counties.

The usual answer from people – included in the survey and contacted at other times – who rely on utility water is: of course. They pay for it. They drink it. They bathe their kids in it.

One national group, the Environmental Working Group, urges utilities to be transparent beyond what is strictly required by the U.S. EPA.

“By providing the public with information about the presence of 1,4-dioxane in their drinking water, utilities rightfully allow consumers to make informed decisions about their tap water consumption and potentially take appropriate precautions,” said Sydney Evans, the group’s senior science analyst. “This is especially important for vulnerable populations like pregnant people, infants, and children.”

She added: “Although the news may not be welcomed by the public, when utilities develop a history of transparency it increases public trust.”

An EPA spokesperson said that while it’s not mandatory for utilities to report test results outside of those from a UCMR, his agency “encourages water systems to include the information” in the annual Consumer Confidence Reports they send out to customers every year.

But the EPA goes a step further, encouraging utility water customers to be their own advocates when it comes to rising concerns about FPAS.

“If you get your water from a public drinking water system,” the EPA urges on its website, “reach out to your local water utility to learn about how they may be addressing PFAS as well as ask them to test the water for PFAS or to share information with you if they have already tested the water.”

kspear@orlandosentinel.com, mcomas@orlandosentinel.com, ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com

Among the more than two dozen questions submitted to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the state’s Department of Health, the city also is asking whether the agencies have any plans to adopt rules setting drinking water standards for 1,4-dioxane and PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals” that are found in countless consumer products.

“The regulatory agencies for water are the EPA (federal Environmental Protection Agency), the DEP and the DOH,” said Lonnie Groot, an assistant city attorney for Sanford. “And those agencies are tasked with telling cities and counties and other types of utility providers what the standards are, what the expectations are, and what the disclosure requirements should be” regarding contaminants.

The request for information follows the Orlando Sentinel’s Toxic Secret series, which explored how tap water in Sanford, Lake Mary and Seminole County became tainted by 1,4-dioxane, a contamination of which few were made aware.

On Monday, Sanford city commissioners agreed to have city attorneys file petitions for declaratory statements from the state’s DEP and DOH regarding 1,4-dioxane and PFAS.

The city is legally entitled to request declaratory statements from the agencies since they oversee Sanford’s ability to provide potable water to the public. The agencies will have 90 days to respond to Sanford’s queries.

Representatives from the DEP and DOH did not respond to emailed questions from the Orlando Sentinel regarding Sanford’s move.

Sanford officials have repeatedly said that the city’s water “meets or exceeds all guidelines” established by federal and state regulations.

“The city regularly tests the drinking water provided to the public in order to ensure that the city meticulously adheres to all regulatory standards,” according to a city staff report. “It is often overlooked that the city was among the first to bring the issue of 1,4-dioxane to the attention of regulators and the public.”

The staff report adds that the EPA requires water utilities to regularly test for 90 “regulated” contaminants and notify water customers if any are detected. However, there are hundreds of contaminants not regulated by the EPA and not routinely tested for by utilities. Therefore, the public is not made aware of them, according to the report.

1,4-dioxane, an unregulated contaminant long used in solvents, is listed by the EPA as likely to cause cancer. The state of Florida does not have drinking water rules for 1,4-dioxane. But state and federal guidelines recommend that drinking water contain no more than 0.35 parts per billion of the chemical.

1,4-dioxane was commonly used in factories for decades, including at a former telephone systems facility that operated in Lake Mary just east of Interstate 4 from 1968 to 2003. Owners of the factory included General Dynamics, Siemens and Moni Holdings.

Those three entities have denied liability for the contamination to the underground water supplies. But they are paying for efforts to clean up the plant site off Rinehart Road and financed a high-end water treatment plant for the city of Lake Mary that removes virtually all traces of 1,4-dioxane.

“Siemens is not aware of any link between possible contaminants in Sanford’s public drinking water and its operations,” said Siemens’ spokesperson Annie Satow in an email to the Sentinel. “To Siemens’ knowledge, the state has not determined the source of potential dioxane contamination in Sanford’s groundwater wells.”

In 2013, the EPA ordered utilities across the country to test for several unregulated contaminants, including 1,4-dioxane. The chemical was found in the tap water of Lake Mary, Sanford and the northwest area of Seminole County at levels above the state’s health advisory level of 0.35 parts per billion. Sanford claims the pollutant made its way into the Floridan Aquifer from beneath the old factory in Lake Mary.

Sanford and Seminole have since lowered concentrations to half that guideline by reducing the use of some wells. Lake Mary in 2021 began operating its new high-tech treatment plant designed to remove virtually all traces of 1,4-dioxane.

In its petition to the DEP, Sanford asks, “What future plans, if any, does the DEP have seeking to determine the source of the 1,4-dioxane that has found its way into Sanford’s water supply wells?”

It also asks: Does the DEP believe that there is a need for setting a drinking water standard for 1,4-dioxane? If not, why not?

And what role would the state’s DOH play in this process? Who or what agency is responsible for alerting property owners with private drinking water wells “when it is expected or anticipated” that the water may exceed the state’s advisory level of 0.35 parts per billion for 1,4-dioxane?

In questions to the DOH, Sanford asks if the state agency knows for how long the public water supply contained 1,4-dioxane in levels above the recommended 0.35 parts per billion, and for the DOH to provide water quality reports.

The city also asks: “At any point in time has the FDOH rendered a ‘public health advisory’ concerning the presence of 1,4-dioxane in north central Seminole County? If not, why not?”

Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff said the state agencies provide oversight and regulation of public utilities, and that his city needs answers regarding the 1,4-dioxane contamination or the presence of any other PFAS.

“We just feel that we need to have a very clear understanding of what their direction is,” he said. “We can’t decide what to do until we hear from them with answers.”

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com

They want to hear concerns from residents who have been drinking water supplied by public utilities in Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County. Groundwater in these areas has been contaminated with 1,4-dioxane, an industrial solvent classified as a likely carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The discussion will take place via a Zoom video chat on Wednesday, Oct. 4 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Those who want to attend can email Barbara.masi@yale.edu to obtain a link.

The hope is that public input will shape future projects from the Yale Superfund Research Center, established in 2022 to investigate the little-researched impacts of 1,4-dioxane and devise solutions. The center’s work is funded through 2027 with a $7.5 million federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.

If there’s significant interest from the community and enough willing participants, Central Florida could potentially become a site for a case study on this chemical’s health impacts, said Vasilis Vasiliou, the center’s director. Yale is currently in the process of recruiting several hundred people for one such study in Long Island, New York, which at one point had dioxane in 70% of its drinking wells.

“I want to find out: what are the concerns of the people and what do they want us, as the Department of Environmental Health Sciences, to do to address their concerns?” said Vasiliou, who will lead Wednesday’s meeting.

Like many, Vasiliou became aware of Central Florida’s situation when he was interviewed for the Orlando Sentinel’s Toxic Secret series. The four-part investigative series shed light on decades of 1,4-dioxane contamination in the Floridian Aquifer. The dioxane has been linked to a telephone systems factory in Lake Mary that was built in the late 1960s and closed in 2003.

Sanford, Lake Mary and Seminole County first detected this industrial solvent in their drinking water in 2013 and 2014, though state investigators found evidence of local groundwater contamination as far back as 2001. It’s unknown what 1,4-dioxane concentrations were during the decades before that.

Known peak parts per billion a decade ago were 1.3 in Lake Mary, 0.41 in Sanford and 0.58 in Seminole County, all above the EPA’s recommended limit of 0.35 parts per billion. Lake Mary’s drinking water contained multiple times this advisory level until a new treatment plant was installed in 2021. Sanford and Seminole adjusted flow rates to their groundwater wells eight years ago and data suggests they have kept 1,4-dioxane levels below 0.35 ppb since then.

This concentration equates to an estimated 1-in-a-million increased risk of cancer if consumed for a lifetime. Florida has also chosen to issue an advisory level of 0.35 ppb, though the limit is not enforced by the federal or state government.

Vasiliou has so far been in contact with about a dozen Central Florida residents about this issue, after his information was publicized at a forum hosted by the Orlando Sentinel at Seminole State College’s Sanford/Lake Mary campus in August.

Following this Zoom meeting, Vasiliou hopes to arrange a formal site visit to the region with his team.

Efforts to assist the Seminole County, Lake Mary and Sanford area would be funded by a grant that promotes university-community partnerships from the National Institutes of Health. In order to apply for this grant and conduct a study, Vasiliou said he would need, at minimum, one person to agree to volunteer to represent the community’s concerns and collaborate with him. More information about the potential partnership will be made available at the meeting.

“We’re looking for some of the community leaders to step up and work with us,” he said.

Sydney Evans, a senior science analyst at the Environmental Working Group, praised Yale’s engagement efforts. The EWG is a U.S. nonprofit that advocates for stricter regulation of toxic chemicals.

“The Yale Superfund Research Center’s potential undertaking of tap water research in Central Florida indicates a commitment to understanding and mitigating the risks of 1,4-dioxane in drinking water, a contaminant for which protective action is long overdue. It’s important to keep the affected communities at the forefront of the research so that the program empowers residents, builds trust, includes appropriate cultural sensitivity, and gives the community some level of ownership over the results,” Evans said via email.

Dioxane has been linked to liver, kidney, peritoneum, mammary and nasal cavity cancers in animal studies, though there has not been much research done in humans.

This dearth of research is part of what inspired Vasiliou to start the effort that brings together researchers from the schools of Public Health, Medicine, Engineering & Applied Science, and the Environment.

It is one of 25 university-based centers across the country funded by the federal government in an attempt to address contaminated U.S. land and groundwater, an effort known as the Superfund program.

Yale scientists at the center aim to answer questions such as how the chemical triggers the development of cancer, how it may interact with other substances commonly found in the environment, and whether biomarkers can identify whether someone was previously exposed to dioxane. As of now, 1,4-dioxane is only detectable when it’s in the human body, and it leaves within a matter of days, which makes it difficult to link health issues to past exposures.

It’s possible that the research done at Yale’s superfund center may be used down the line to help inform a federal limit for 1,4-dioxane in drinking water, and other regulatory steps.

Other goals of Yale’s center include developing easier and cheaper ways to detect and remove the chemical, which is notoriously difficult to separate from water.

Lake Mary water plant destroys ‘tricky’ 1,4-dioxane with high-tech solution unique to Florida

At the moment, at-home treatment systems such as reverse osmosis can remove most, but not all of the chemical from drinking water. However, they aren’t a practical option for many households because of their price – several hundred to several thousand dollars for installation, plus the cost of upkeep and filter replacement.

In addition, at-home treatment doesn’t destroy the chemical, it separates it and sends it down the drain. This means it could potentially end up in the water supply again.

One of the most dependable ways to actually destroy 1,4-dioxane is a process called advanced oxidation, which combines hydrogen peroxide with ultraviolet light. This process is highly effective but also prohibitively pricey.

Lake Mary installed an advanced oxidation plant in 2021 that reduces the concentration of dioxane to a trace amount. The city estimates it cost about $40 million, though it was paid for by the telephone factory’s former owners and the price was never directly disclosed to the city or the Orlando Sentinel.

Martin Comas and Kevin Spear of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report.

Ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; @CECatherman Twitter

It’s not intuitive that the basic function of the machinery is so commonplace as purifying and providing 3 million gallons of drinking water daily to 17,000 residents of Lake Mary. It does so with extraordinary effect.

Angular, elongated and draped in dreadlocks of external wiring, the machinery is the heart of Lake Mary’s two-year-old water treatment plant. It combines high-strength hydrogen peroxide with high-wattage ultraviolet light to chemically incinerate a toxic substance into innocuous molecular shreds.

The city’s water – before treatment – contains small but concerning amounts of 1,4-dioxane, a chemical labeled by federal authorities as probably carcinogenic.

Lake Mary officials would not permit interior photos of the plant during a recent tour, and the city’s lawyer insisted that its components not be described in detail for security reasons.

Industrial chemical infiltrated Lake Mary, Sanford, Seminole water wells; few knew and there was no coordinated response

But Lake Mary’s chosen treatment methodology, more costly and complex than conventional means, is gaining visibility nationally as a utility solution for water contaminants of rising concern like 1,4-dioxane. Many experts also note multiple ways that such plants outperform home treatment systems such as reverse osmosis units.

In Seminole County, there may be few other realistic alternatives for ridding drinking water of 1,4-dioxane.

The chemical has infiltrated a large expanse of the underground Floridan Aquifer where Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County pump up drinking water. As a synthetic chemical widely applied as a solvent, it dissolves completely in water.

1,4-dioxane stubbornly resists attempts to separate it from water and is difficult to remove from aquifers.

“It’s really tricky to deal with,” said Tony Sacco, co-founder of Spartan Environmental Technologies, an Ohio company focused on water solutions in North America like the one in Lake Mary.

Although water treatment that relies on hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light can have higher operation costs, Sacco said, “it’s a really nice approach for solving this problem of 1,4-dioxane.”

Hydroxyl radical

Combining hydrogen peroxide with ultraviolet light to clean water is a mature, settled technology, said Sacco and other experts, but its use so far has been more for recycling sewage into drinking water and for restoring polluted aquifers.

The process is called advanced oxidation, which creates and utilizes a ferociously destructive molecule called a hydroxyl radical.

NASA describes the hydroxyl radical as one of the most reactive elements in the atmosphere, where it occurs naturally and says it “acts like a detergent in the air” disposing of pollutants.

Manufactured and harnessed to treat water, advanced oxidation’s hydroxyl radical is able to destroy pesticides, pharmaceuticals and industrial solvents such as 1,4-dioxane.

Lake Mary’s plant finishes the treatment process by running water through enclosed tanks containing granulated carbon, which, by itself is a powerful cleaner, removing any unused hydrogen peroxide and trace organic substances.

“We are very proud of our plant,” said Lake Mary public works director Danielle Koury.

City officials understand that no other Florida utility treats water with the same technology.

“We are the guinea pigs,” said Scott Rankin, the city’s chief water plant operator, of the novelty of such treatment in Florida. He expects that the eyes of many utilities will be on the plant’s ongoing performance and durability.

Unregulated chemicals

For nearly two decades, the soil and groundwater surrounding a former telecommunications factory in west Lake Mary a little more than a half-mile from the city’s water plant has been documented as extensively polluted with 1,4-dioxane and other industrial chemicals.

In 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for research purposes directed utilities nationwide to test for 1,4-dioxane and several other contaminants that are unregulated by the EPA for drinking water.

There is no requirement that utilities regularly test for unregulated contaminants. There is no legal limit for the amount of unregulated chemicals in drinking water and there is no ordinary requirement for telling consumers about unregulated contaminants in drinking water.

As a result of that 2013 EPA order, varying levels of 1,4-dioxane – collectively the highest in Florida – were found in tap water of Sanford, Lake Mary and northwest Seminole County.

By 2016, the two cities and the county reduced pumping from their Floridan Aquifer wells with the most 1,4-dioxane contamination.

By doing that, Sanford and Seminole County lowered 1,4-dioxane levels in drinking water to about half of the state and federal advisory level – 0.35 parts of the chemical in 1 billion parts of water.

Lake Mary reduced 1,4-dioxane in its drinking water to about two to three times the advisory level, which the Florida Department of Health deemed in writing as not a risk to consumers.

But Lake Mary’s public works director at the time, Bruce Paster, said the city worried that 1,4-dioxane levels in well water could increase and that health researchers might determine that the health advisory level should be far lower to protect consumers. And, he said, no utility wants any amount of a likely carcinogen in their water.

Lake Mary turned to former owners of the telecommunications plant – General Dynamics, MONI Holdings and Siemens – and negotiated for them to construct and pay for operations and maintenance of a treatment plant able to get rid of 1,4-dioxane in the city’s drinking water.

A pilot study was underway in 2016, Rankin said, and the plant was completed in 2021. It reduces the concentration of 1,4-dioxane to a trace amount.

The cost, according to city estimates, was upwards of $40 million, though that was never directly disclosed by the former owners to the city. A Siemens spokesperson declined to comment to the Orlando Sentinel on plant costs.

According to the city, ongoing operations and maintenance costs include $180,000 annually for hydrogen peroxide, which the plant consumes at a rate of about 80 gallons a day.

The plant uses 50-percent strength hydrogen peroxide, which is stored in double-line tanks and is more akin to rocket propellant than to the medicine cabinet variety of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide and 97 percent water.

Hydrogen peroxide at that water plant’s concentration poses a hazardous risk to workers, though water plants typically use challenging chemicals such as chlorine or liquid oxygen.

One morning last month, Rankin arrived at the Lake Mary plant to encounter what he feared was a hydrogen peroxide leak, which prompted a major fire department response.

During the recent plant tour, Rankin said an initial investigation determined that hydrogen peroxide in one of the tanks reacted to a foreign material of some sort and emitted what appeared to him in early morning sunlight to be mist or vapor venting from the tank.

What the material was and how it got there remains under investigation, Rankin said.

Equipped with big pumps, water plants typically are hungry for electricity. Lake Mary’s also utilizes nearly 200 ultraviolet light tubes. Each of those is a 1,000-watt light, but dimmable according to the amount of water flowing through.

Koury said the plant’s monthly power bills run at about $20,000, an amount equal to the bills of nearly 150 homes using an average amount of power.

Those components – hydrogen peroxide and electricity – along with other operations and maintenance costs and half the salaries of four plant operators are paid for by former owners of the telecommunications factory, Koury said.

With the telecommunications factory located in city limits, Lake Mary was able to secure a high-end water plant but not be saddled with its large financial burden.

“The technology, I think, has been great,” Rankin said.

Floridan Aquifer

For two decades, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has monitored or directed investigation of the plume of toxic pollution spreading outward from the former telecommunications factory off Rinehart Road and adjacent to a hospital under construction.

Still today, the department has not publicly provided a timeline or overall strategy for comprehensively determining the responsibility and solution for 1,4-dioxane contaminating the Floridan Aquifer and tainting the drinking water of tens of thousands of residents.

That has left Sanford officials vexed and frustrated over how to address higher concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in some of the city’s Floridan Aquifer wells and lower concentrations – lower than the health advisory level of 0.35 parts per billion – in its tap water.

For many years, Sanford has urged the state’s environment department to come up with answers for 1,4-dioxane contamination.

The city also recently has explored options for building a water plant like that in Lake Mary.

How a toxic chemical infiltrated the Floridan Aquifer, tainting Seminole County tap water

“We need Lake Mary to be a partner,” said Jake Varn, a Tallahassee environmental and water lawyer employed by Sanford. “We need to learn from them.”

Seminole County leaders had lost track of 1,4-dioxane contamination until the Orlando Sentinel began to publish stories this summer about the chemical’s threat to drinking water.

The county hired a national firm, Carollo Engineers, to explore options for addressing 1,4-dioxane in tap water of northwest Seminole County.

In-home treatment

For residents of Sanford and northwest Seminole County who are concerned about 1,4-dioxane, in-home treatment systems can help to a degree.

Common, less costly treatment options don’t work, according to the Interstate Technology Regulatory Council, a state-led environmental coalition.

But a granulated, activated carbon filter can remove some of the chemical at home, as long as it is changed out regularly, with the most effective results occurring when it is installed under the kitchen sink according to a North Carolina state study.

Reverse osmosis systems under home sinks are also a potential solution: multiple studies estimate they can remove about 70 percent to 90 percent of the chemical.

Because 1,4-dioxane is so embedded in water, molecules inevitably slip through carbon filters and reverse osmosis. That has left some scientists hesitant to recommend these options, which can cost hundreds to thousands of dollars and not be available to many households.

Youneng Tang, associate professor in Environmental Engineering at the Florida A&M-Florida State University College of Engineering said reverse osmosis and carbon filters are “effective for removing a very wide range of contaminants. It just happens to not be very effective on 1,4-dioxane.”

Others think that the two treatment options are effective if there are low levels of 1,4-dioxane to begin with.

“If the concentration is already very low, then if you remove 50 percent that can bring it to a safe level. If the concentration is very high … those cases require a more complicated and much more thorough treatment process,” said Haizhou Liu, professor of chemical and environmental engineering at University of California, Riverside.

In addition, a drawback with home filtration is that filtered-out 1,4-dioxane is sent down sewage lines to sewage plants. “​​It can find a way back into our water resources,” Liu said.

Liu concluded that reverse osmosis may be an answer for people relying on water from private, household wells. But for those connected to a public water supply, complete destruction of the chemical makes the most sense.

“I think the most effective approach would be a centralized treatment,” said Liu, which describes Lake Mary’s plant.

New threats

Old-school drinking water in Florida happens this way: drill a deep hole into the ground, insert a pump, withdraw what is generally very clean water from the Floridan Aquifer, slosh it around to vent off sulfur odors, dose it with disinfecting chlorine and pipe it to homes.

Orlando Utilities Commission and others have improved the process over recent decades. OUC delivers liquid oxygen to its many water plants, where it is converted to ozone, which is injected into raw water as an energetic cleaning and polishing agent to remove odor, color and trace organic compounds.

But the old-school way is futile for dealing with new threats of unregulated contaminants: 1,4-dioxane and, of rapidly growing concern, the cancer-causing PFAS chemicals seemingly infiltrating whatever people eat, wear and drink.

An early adopter of technology to fight 1,4-dioxane and PFAS is the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in Wilmington, N.C.,. For  a quarter of a century, the utility has been treating its drinking water from the Cape Fear River with a complex array of ozonation, carbon filtration and ultraviolet light.

The river — lapping up pollution from farms, factories and sewage plants — meanders for nearly 200 miles from near Raleigh to the Atlantic Ocean.

In the mid-1990s, the utility learned of elevated concentrations of various chemicals in the river, including 1,4-dioxane at as high as 4.6 parts per billion.

According to a recent sample data point, the plant on March 6 treated river water with 1.2 parts per billion of 1,4-dioxane, reducing it to 0.32 parts per billion.

The utility’s “multi-barrier treatment strategy” includes a version of advanced oxidation, though does not employ the hydroxyl radical.

“While the process is highly automated, the plant is staffed 24/7 by licensed operators,” said Ben Kearns of the Cape Fear Public Utility Authority in an email.

Very competitive

In 2018, Paster, Lake Mary’s director of public works, reached out to the city of Tucson, Arizona, about its water-treatment plant utilizing hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light.

Aquifer waters in the Tucson area have been affected by 1,4-dioxane and other solvent contamination from a Superfund site known as the Tucson International Airport Area.

The city’s plant, about the size of Lake Mary’s plant today, had gone online in 2014.

Lake Mary hired Carollo Engineers, which has designed treatment plants with hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light in several states, including Arizona and California.

Carollo’s George Maseeh became Lake Mary’s technical advisor for the construction of its water plant.

“The technology has been mature for some time,” said Maseeh, a Carollo senior vice president. “Probably 20 to 30 years ago, the technology was around but manufacturers hadn’t quite perfected their systems and they weren’t particularly energy efficient. It became very competitive about 15 years ago and has had a lot of applications since then.”

Construction of Lake Mary’s water plant was directed by consultant Brown and Caldwell, working for the former owners of the telecommunications factory.

At the same time, Carollo and Maseeh were working for the town of Marana near Tucson, assisting in its construction of two plants that are smaller versions of Lake Mary’s plant.

Some of Marana’s well water is contaminated with 1,4-dioxane levels similar to those in Seminole County.

Paul Martinez, water operations manager for the town of Marana, said there was a lot of learning “on the fly” and he wasn’t aware of that many other communities utilizing water treatment with hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light.

But he learned about Lake Mary’s plant and thought it was a useful comparison.

At Sentinel forum, government officials, public discuss Seminole County’s tribulations with 1,4-dioxane

“Temperatures here go up to 115 during the day, and you’ve got to make sure that you have everything cold enough because you’re dealing with all these UV lamps and all these electronics,” Martinez said. “But I figured in Florida it was kind of warm there too.”

Learn it

At Lake Mary’s plant, Rankin said that an old-school water utility unaccustomed to a hydroxyl radical may initially find the process overwhelming. “But they will learn it,” he said.

An upside to advanced oxidation is that it disinfects water, Rankin said, lessening the need for chlorine, the use of which can trigger a host of contamination trouble. The Lake Mary plant still adds a minimal amount of chlorine as required by state law to keep water sanitized as it flows through pipelines.

After nearly two years of operation, there is little Rankin would change about its design, other than to upgrade some components to reduce the frequency of maintenance.

Water conservation proponents likely would want to encourage a big change in habits and practices.

The highest usage of Lake Mary’s water occurs from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

That’s when home and business landscape sprinklers automatically switch on, raining some of the most intensively pampered, high-quality water in the region on grass.

It’s an effort to prevent the contamination of groundwater sources, including the Floridan Aquifer, which provides nearly all of the drinking water for the region, city officials said.

“Everyone needs to take that responsibility to report it, and not to say that someone else needs to worry about that,” Mayor Art Woodruff said.

Sanford commissioners will consider the requirement as part of a city ordinance during Monday’s public meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 300 N. Park Ave.

It follows a recent investigation by the Orlando Sentinel that reported a widespread contamination of the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane in the Floridan Aquifer in Seminole’s northwest side, where some of the drinking water wells for Sanford, Seminole County and Lake Mary have been located for decades.

Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?

The contamination is alleged to have come from an old factory just east of Interstate 4 in Lake Mary that manufactured circuit boards for telephone systems from 1968 to 2003. It was operated by various companies, including Stromberg-Carlson, a subsidiary of General Dynamics, and later the Siemens Corp.

Sanford leaders on Monday also are scheduled to discuss with the city’s legal staff whether to file a lawsuit against any polluters of the 1,4-dioxane contamination, and whether to team with Seminole County in such an effort.

“There appears to be potential in joining forces with the county in any efforts that the county may initiate as to the 1,4-dioxane matter involving county water facilities,” said assistant city attorney Lonnie Groot in a memo to Sanford commissioners. “If it is possible to collaborate with the county, that could result in an array of possible benefits to both the city and county.”

Seminole utilities struggled to address, pinpoint source of toxic chemical in tap water

Seminole County officials did not return calls when asked if they would be willing to work with Sanford on any litigation or cleanup efforts regarding the 1,4-dioxane contamination.

Jake Varn, a former director of Florida’s Department of Environmental Protection and an attorney who is now assisting the city of Sanford, has told city officials that it may be better to wait for any litigation until decisions by the state agency are made regarding the 1,4-dioxane contamination and an assessment of any damages is done.

In its land development regulations, Sanford currently prohibits a long list of activities within 200 feet of a drinking water well — including operating any facilities that store or handle hazardous materials, such as petroleum or pesticides.

The proposed requirement that someone must report to the city, county, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the state’s Department of Health any pollutants or hazardous substances being spilled, leaked, poured or dumped into the ground or water body would be added to those regulations. Violators could be fined up to $500.

It would go into effect in September if approved by commissioners on a second reading next month.

How a toxic chemical infiltrated the Floridan Aquifer, tainting Seminole County tap water

1,4-dioxane was long used in solvents. And the chemical is categorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as likely to cause cancer.

Sanford has asserted that the source of the 1,4-dioxane contamination underground is the old Stromberg-Carlson plant.

In 2001, state investigators documented the presence of the chemical in the underground water in that area. Sanford, Seminole County and Lake Mary later found the chemical in their drinking water in 2013 and 2014.

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com

Lillian Sexton, Lake Mary’s fire marshal, said there was “no imminent danger.” Just before 2 p.m., the city announced that the leak had been stopped, and there was no change to the city’s water quality.

An investigation is underway into how the leak happened at the 2-year-old plant at 263 Rinehart Road. It was a first-time event.

There were no injuries, officials said. Nearby Crystal Lakes Elementary was not evacuated.

Lake Mary’s Chief Water Plant Operator Scott Rankin said that when he arrived at work just before 6 a.m., he noticed a mist coming out of the 2,500-gallon tank that contains hydrogen peroxide.

“When I got on site, I could see what I’m going to call a mist,” Rankin said. “So I evacuated myself out of the facility and called 911.”

Lake Mary Fire Chief Michael Johansmeyer said the leak was only the vapor and not any liquid form of the chemical.

“Anything that we have released from the tank has been contained,” Johansmeyer said at a press conference. “The vapor is inert. So when it’s going away, there is no concern for the environment or personnel.”

Rankin said that despite the leak, “we’ve been able to maintain 100% operations during this event and expect to during the whole duration.”

Agencies that responded include the Lake Mary Fire Department, Seminole County Fire Department and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.

By late Friday morning, neither Sanford nor Seminole County utilities officials had received a request for assistance from Lake Mary. The water systems of the two cities and county have connection points that can be opened to share water supplies during disruptions or emergencies.

Lake Mary’s water treatment plant is the only one like it in Florida, according to city officials. It took six years to design and construct, and began operating in 2021.

The plant cleans nearly 4 million gallons of water daily through a series of steps much more complex and costly than at typical treatment plants in Florida.

The city’s plant was specifically equipped to destroy the synthetic industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane that contaminates well water in Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole County.

Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?

It works by mixing hydrogen peroxide into water coming from five wells pumping from the underground Floridan Aquifer.

That mixture then is pumped into three chambers, each of which contains nearly 200 1,000-watt ultraviolet lamps.

When UV radiation strikes hydrogen peroxide, it creates molecules called “hydroxyl radicals,” which are very destructive of pollutants like 1,4-dioxane.

That treated water is then pumped through one of six chambers, each holding 60,000 pounds of granular carbon, to remove unwanted by-products from the hydrogen peroxide-UV treatment.

In higher concentrations, hydrogen peroxide is dangerous to people and potentially explosive. Hydrogen peroxide comes in a wide variety of concentrations in water, including a ratio of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide for household use.

The plant uses the chemical at a concentration of 50 percent, which can cause severe burns and major eye injury, and can accelerate fires and even trigger combustion of organic materials.

1,4-dixoane, which contaminated the ground beneath a former telephone equipment factory just east of Interstate 4 in Lake Mary, where it was used as a solvent, was detected in the city’s drinking water a decade ago, and also in wells in Seminole County and Sanford.

The contamination was little-known before the Orlando Sentinel revealed it in its recent Toxic Secret series.

The plant, built at an estimated cost of nearly $40 million, was paid for “voluntarily” by former owners of the factory as part of a 2017 agreement with the city and state.

Kevin Spear and Jeff Weiner of the Sentinel staff contributed.

The move follows a recent investigative series by the Orlando Sentinel that reported an extensive contamination of the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane in the underground Floridan Aquifer in Seminole’s northwest side where some of the drinking water wells for Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole have been located for years.

The contamination is alleged to have come from an old factory in Lake Mary just east of Interstate 4 that manufactured circuit boards for telephone systems from 1968 to 2003.

How a toxic chemical infiltrated the Floridan Aquifer, tainting Seminole County tap water

The former owners of the plant have denied liability for the contaminants polluting the water supplies. But they are financially supporting efforts to clean up the property off Rinehart Road and financed a high-end water treatment plant for the city of Lake Mary.

But Seminole commissioners during their brief discussion did not mention the contamination or 1,4-dioxane. Nor did they provide any details as to the extent of any new and protective drinking water standards. Florida lacks any drinking water rules for 1,4-dioxane. The chemical is categorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as likely to cause cancer.

They noted that state Sen. Jason Brodeur, a Republican from Sanford, chairs the Senate appropriations committee on agriculture, environment and general government. His district represents all of Seminole and a portion of north Orange County.

“This is the right time, being that he [Brodeur] is the chair of that particular committee, and I do understand how much power, especially with DEP [state’s Department of Environmental Protection], there is in that position,” Seminole Commissioner Lee Constantine said. “The iron is hot.”

Industrial chemical infiltrated Lake Mary, Sanford, Seminole water wells; few knew and there was no coordinated response

Last week, state Sen. Linda Stewart, a Democrat from east Orange County who also is a member of the same committee, asked for Florida’s environmental agency and the legislature’s research arm to provide an overview of the state’s awareness, investigation and transparency for the chemical contamination in Seminole County.

Stewart asked state Senate President Kathleen Passidomo to commission a study by the Office of Program Policy and Analysis to determine “what steps, if any, the state of Florida should take to make sure we preserve the integrity of our drinking water supplies.”

Tricia Johnson, Seminole’s deputy county manager, told commissioners that “it would be valuable” to talk to Brodeur regarding state funding and “to determine if there is more stringent legislation that should be drafted” regarding cleaner drinking water.

After the county meeting, Zack Brodersen, an aide for Brodeur, said the senator was “not available for comment” regarding Seminole County’s discussion.

He noted that local state legislators, including Brodeur, plan to hold a public meeting on Oct. 30 in Sanford to hear from representatives from local groups and governments on their legislative priorities for next year’s session, which begins in January. And the topic of more protective measures for Florida’s drinking water could be part of that discussion.

1,4-dioxane was typically used in manufacturing facilities like the one in Lake Mary from as early as the 1970s. The chemical was not tested for in Lake Mary, Sanford and northwest Seminole’s drinking water until it was discovered in 2013.

At Sentinel forum, government officials, public discuss Seminole County’s tribulations with 1,4-dioxane

Seminole Commissioner Andria Herr said she would like to learn more about how to clean the contamination in Seminole.

“For the record, our drinking water is clean,” she said. “Can there be improvements? Yes. Is there an area of opportunity with finding the plume and pulling the plume out? I don’t know scientifically if that’s even a reality or what the cost of it would be. So I really would like to know more about that before we simply do it, just so that we’re saying something that looks good. Quite honestly, I struggle with that.”

Commission Chair Amy Lockhart said she would like to see more research into the extent of the contamination and its effects.

“Because I feel like we’re still in the search and find out and educate and let’s learn what our options are, phase of this,” she said. “We certainly don’t have enough knowledge. My one takeaway from all of this is that everyone doesn’t know everything about this yet. So I don’t think we have a fix for whatever a fix may be, if a fix is even scientifically possible.”

Seminole last month sent a letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to implement and enforce regulations regarding 1,4-dioxane.

Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?

County Manager Darren Gray noted that Carollo Engineers, an Orlando-based consulting firm hired by Seminole, provides the county with weekly reports on its drinking water. Carollo representatives plan to make a presentation before commissioners in the coming weeks regarding Seminole’s water quality.

“Let’s hear from them and see what their assessments and recommendations are,” Gray said in recommending that the county wait before urging state legislators to make any new policies or legislation regarding drinking water.

mcomas@orlandosentinel.com

That fact — revealed in the Sentinel’s “Toxic Secret” investigation — thrusted 1,4-dioxane’s worrisome prevalence onto the public’s radar last month, irking Seminole County residents and compelling public officials to take action.

In response, Seminole County and the cities of Lake Mary and Sanford, where the chemical was found the most potent, assured residents that after making adjustments their drinking water was safe. Still, important, broader questions remained.

An onslaught of concerns from Seminole County residents were scrutinized during a free public forum hosted by the Orlando Sentinel at Seminole State College’s Sanford/Lake Mary campus Tuesday night.

Questions addressed included: What determinations can be made about the source of the chemical? Why did the overspill go unaddressed for so long? And how does one assess potential years worth of its damage?

Panel discussions with reporters, water plant system experts and government officials representing affected areas addressed a bigger need for tougher regulations and transparency. Panelists also mapped out how 1,4-dioxane infiltrated the Floridan Aquifer and chewed over the origins of the chemical, tracing it back to a shuttered Siemens factory in west Lake Mary.

“With the background I have with environmental reporting, I pretty quickly realized that this [issue] was big,” said Kevin Spear, a reporter with the Orlando Sentinel. “… for two cities that are a big part of the county to be troubled and paired with this chemical, there’s no comparison.”

In the Orlando Sentinel’s four-part investigation, experts studying 1,4-dioxane said the public would have benefitted from being informed about the chemical sooner, even if there was little information about its potential harm. Rather than continue to let 1,4-dioxane slip into drinking water, public officials should have treated the uncertainty more seriously, experts said.

At the panel, Art Woodruff, the mayor of Sanford, said the city is working on being more transparent by drafting an ordinance that require anyone with knowledge of a spill to notify the city.

“For any issue, there’s always more you can do,” he said after the forum. “The question we’re asking ourselves about how much communication is: Is [water pollutants] the issue that needs more communication?”

A major response to the “Toxic Secret” series has come from cities that are retesting their water treatment plants in hopes to ease the minds of residents who are concerned about the existence of 1,4-dioxane and other chemicals like perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, in their drinking water.

Sunshine Water Services, which services nearly 15,000 customers in parts of Sanford, Longwood and other locations in Seminole County, ran tests and said no 1,4-dioxane was detected. Winter Springs tested its wells, three treatment plants and the overall water system and found no traces.

On Tuesday, Altamonte Springs announced it found no 1,4-dioxane or PFAS compounds in its drinking water after running tests.

“That is not surprising because Altamonte Springs is at a higher elevation than Lake Mary and the water table flows away from us. But the primary reason that we do not have 1,4-dioxane in our water system is because Altamonte Springs never had significant manufacturing industries in the city,” a release from the city stated.

Longwood on Wednesday announced it, too, recently sent water samples for testing and 1,4-dioxane was not detected. “We are pleased to confirm that the City of Longwood’s drinking water continues to be safe for our residents and water customers,” a statement from city spokesperson Liane Cartagena said.

1,4-dioxane is alleged to have originated from an old General Dynamics and Siemens plant operated by subsidiary Stromberg-Carlson near the Lake Mary Wellness and Technology Park off Rinehart Road. The plant manufactured telephone circuit boards for decades beginning in the late 1960s, and records unfolded by Spear and Sentinel reporters Martin E. Comas and Caroline Catherman suggest the plant is the source of the 1,4-dioxane.

According to the “Toxic Secret” series, the chemical’s presence was found in Sanford’s tap water and in the county’s Northwest Service Area in 2013. The following year, the chemical was found in Lake Mary’s water.

Little was done because there were and continue to be few rules and research regarding 1,4-dioxane.

“There’s very few scientists that have done research on this topic and even fewer that have done research recently,” Catherman said during the panel. She said the lack of studies done on the chemical and its impact to humans made it “difficult to categorize the health risks.”

Earlier this year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced utilities would be required to remove PFAS from drinking water. When it comes to regulating the presence of 1,4-dioxane, the EPA is drafting a new risk evaluation, but it can take years to go into effect.

During the panel, Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine said the county will be pushing the EPA to adopt tougher regulations for 1,4-dioxane and will be seeking more local power to shut down polluters. The county also added a water-quality dashboard to its website to deliver information about its drinking water.

“We’re investigating going after the polluters and we are establishing an education program with the owners of private wells so that they can look at their own wells and protect themselves,” Constantine said.

Scott Rankin, Lake Mary’s chief water plant operator, said the city is using a highly advanced water treatment plant to clean its water. Meanwhile, Sanford and Seminole County are managing water flow from the affected wells to reduce the concentration of the chemical to safe levels.

During the panel, Jake Varn, an attorney representing Sanford in water issues, said the state departments of environmental protection and health have enough “horsepower” to press responsible parties to investigate 1,4-dioxane in drinking water.

“This is a statewide problem. We’re just at the tip of the iceberg,” Varn said. “We got serious water quality problems around the state of Florida that we need to be dealing with as opposed to putting our heads in the sand and being an ostrich.”

Representatives from Florida’s Department of Health did not respond to an invitation from the Sentinel to participate in the panel. The state’s environmental protection agency declined to send representatives.

The EPA deemed 1,4-dioxane as likely to cause cancer.

One attendee asked panelists to check 1,4-dioxane contamination levels at a lake 3,970 feet from the shuttered Siemens factory in west Lake Mary. She said her neighbors have suffered from illness and she herself has cancer.

In response, Catherman directed her to Dr. Vasilis Vasiliou, a professor and chair of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at the Yale School of Public Health, which is researching health impacts of 1,4-dioxane.

Environmental advocates outside of the panel Tuesday evening said they’re concerned about a system playing out across the state that favors money-making industries over people’s health.

Jim Durocher, the East Central Florida regional coordinator with the Right to Clean Water organization, was passing out petitions outside of the event to amend the state constitution by making it a fundamental right to clean water.

The problem isn’t a lack of regulation, he said, the problem is the plethora of permits that allow industries to circumvent environment-friendly procedures that could lessen or stop pollutants from entering the environment.

“We need a paradigm shift,” he said. “And the right to clean water is a paradigm shift.”

arabines@orlandosentinel.com 

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the service area of Sunshine Water Services.

Sentinel reporters Kevin Spear, Martin E. Comas and Caroline Catherman participated in the forum and discussed their series of reports called “Toxic Secret.” Their stories and subsequent follow-up reports explored how 1,4-dixoane, an industrial chemical and likely carcinogen, was able to spread into northwest Seminole County utilities while residents – and even some officials – were kept in the dark.

Others on the forum panel included Sanford Mayor Art Woodruff, Lake Mary’s Chief Water Plant Operator Scott Rankin, Seminole County Commissioner Lee Constantine and representatives from Carollo Engineers, a consulting firm hired by Seminole County to address the 1,4-dioxane issue.

Sentinel Managing Editor Roger Simmons and Spectrum News 13 anchor Tammie Fields were the moderators for the forum.

Q&A: What is 1,4-dioxane, is it safe to drink and how do you get rid of it?

The contamination is alleged to have originated from an old General Dynamics and Siemens plant operated by subsidiary Stromberg-Carlson off Rinehart Road that manufactured telephone circuit boards for decades beginning in the late 1960s.

Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County all responded in different ways to the contamination, first discovered by utilities in northwest Seminole County in 2013. All say that after adjustments their drinking water is safe now for customers. There is likely no way to know how long ago contamination began and at what concentration.

While the Sentinel has secured space for the forum at the college, this event and the Sentinel are neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Seminole State College of Florida.

Many residents of Seminole County, however, are now wondering whether what comes from their faucets is safe, following the Orlando Sentinel’s recent Toxic Secret series that for the first time comprehensively revealed how an industrial chemical federally listed as likely to cause cancer has infiltrated their water for years or even decades.

The chemical, 1,4-dioxane, is poorly researched for health risks and has been linked to pollution from a shuttered factory in Lake Mary.

Here are answers to questions from people living in Sanford, Lake Mary and west Seminole County.

What is 1,4-dioxane?

It is a synthetic industrial chemical that dissolves completely in water. It is used and occurs in an extraordinary variety of processes and products, including textile production, paint stripping, coatings and some consumer goods such as cosmetics and soaps.

In its pure form, it smells faintly sweet and similar to ether. It is colorless.

In Seminole County, extensive ground and water pollution containing 1,4-dioxane has been documented in the vicinity of a shuttered telephone systems factory in Lake Mary. Factory owners have denied liability for any migration of the chemical to water wells of Lake Mary, Sanford and west Seminole County.

Can I see, smell or taste 1,4-dioxane in my tap water?

That would not be possible in the minute concentrations measured in Sanford and west Seminole, and previously in Lake Mary, which in 2021 started up a treatment plant designed specifically to remove the chemical.

Concentrations of the chemical in the tap water of the two cities and county have been measured in parts per billion, or ppb, ranging from about 0.2 ppb to about 1.5 ppb. The state’s health advisory limit is 0.35 parts per billion. That equates to an 8 ounce cup of the chemical mixed into 150 million gallons of water.

What do Sanford, Lake Mary and Seminole County say about the health risk of 1,4-dioxane in their water?

Sanford and Seminole County say their water is safe based on the health-advisory limit set by the Florida Department of Health and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of 0.35 ppb.

When 1,4-dioxane was first found in Sanford and in west Seminole County from 2013 to 2015, their utilities reduced use of wells that were the most contaminated with the chemical, lowering concentrations to about 0.2 ppb.

Lake Mary’s water consistently contained more than 1 ppb until 2021 when the city started up its advanced treatment plant.

Why didn’t Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County tell anyone about 1,4-dioxane in their water?

All three governments said they complied with federal regulations when they first detected the chemical.

They added statements about the chemical to their annual water reports in 2015 and 2016 that were brief, largely obscure and lacking context, such as the state and federal health advisory level for 1,4-dioxane.

No other public statements were made after that.

Read Orlando Sentinel’s ‘Toxic Secret’ water contamination series for free here

What can any customer of a private or public utility do to learn if there are potentially harmful chemicals in their water?

The U.S. EPA requires utilities to state in their annual water reports if they have detected – whether above or below allowed concentrations – any of 90 contaminants potentially found in drinking water. That’s a fraction of the total potential number of contaminants from pesticides, factories, petroleum, sewage and other sources.

The best option for utility customers may be to reach out directly to their utilities and ask if they know of any contaminants detected in water within the past decade and not included in their annual reports.

In addition, Seminole County commissioners on July 25 shared plans to increase testing and create an online dashboard with current levels of various contaminants, including 1,4-dioxane, at its wells and treatment plants.

In the meantime, a PowerPoint on the county’s 1,4-dioxane page shares recent measurements.

Aside from Lake Mary, Sanford and Seminole County, have other utilities in the area conducted recent tests of their water for 1,4-dioxane?

As a result of the Orlando Sentinel’s Toxic Secret stories, the city of Altamonte Springs ordered new tests for 1,4-dioxane and detected none. City manager Frank Martz said the testing cost less than $2,000 and was needed to answer inquiries from residents concerned about their water. Martz said results will be posted on the city’s website and on social media. He added that the city’s source of water, the underground Floridan Aquifer, is upstream from 1,4-dioxane contamination at a former factory in Lake Mary. Still, Martz said, testing was the right move for residents’ trust in tap water.

The privately owned Sunshine Water Services, with nearly 15,000 customers in portions of Sanford, Longwood and elsewhere in Seminole County, also tested recently for 1,4-dioxane but only in an area near the former factory — north of Wekiva Springs Road and west of Interstate 4 — where about 460 customers are served. No 1,4-dioxane was detected, said Sunshine spokesperson Chris Snow.

The city of Oviedo opted not to test for 1,4-dioxane. “Drinking water well sites are not located near or in the vicinity of any such commercial manufacturing facility as mentioned in the Orlando Sentinel article,” the city said in a statement. Oviedo did not detect the chemical a decade ago during nationwide testing required by the U.S. EPA for research.

Winter Springs jumped into action, testing its wells, three treatment plants and the overall water system, for 11 total samples, and on Friday received results that no 1,4-dioxane was detected. Spokesman Matt Reeser said that while testing costs were nominal city leaders didn’t take that into account. “They didn’t care what it cost,” he said. “They wanted to get it done.” Reeser added that another round  of tests will be performed soon and that annual 1,4-dioxane testing may become standard, with results added to annual water reports.

Longwood’s city manager, Clint Gioielli, said that in an “abundance of caution” water samples were collected recently and results for 1,4-dioxane test are expected next week.
Casselberry officials could not be reached Friday.

How can I test for 1,4-dioxane in my tap water?

To measure the chemical in household drinking water, there are a number of certified commercial analytical laboratories that can test for 1,4-dioxane, including several that will ship testing equipment to your home, allowing you to collect a sample and send it back for analysis. These tests range in sensitivity.

Seminole commissioners urge EPA action on 1,4-dioxane, ‘long, hard look’ at pollution’s source

What if I have a private well for my home?

The Orlando Sentinel had reached out to the Florida Department of Health for guidance on this question but the department has not responded to this or other inquiries on the topic.

The department provides private well information at FloridaHealth.gov/Wellstest

How can 1,4-dioxane be removed?

Typical water treatment methods can’t get rid of 1,4-dioxane, which is notoriously hard to treat.

The most effective treatment available is a process called advanced oxidation, which destroys all but trace amounts of the chemical often by using hydrogen peroxide and ultraviolet light. Of note, the plant Lake Mary installed in 2021 uses this method.

Home systems that use reverse osmosis can remove most of the chemical from drinking water; because of its characteristics, some 1,4-dioxane can slip through filtration membranes of reverse osmosis.

Experts agree that it is not practical to try to treat water for 1,4-dioxane contamination house-by-house, and a water treatment plant is the more efficient option.

Is water with 1,4-dioxane safe to drink?

Researchers are generally in agreement that the risk posed by 1,4-dioxane depends on the amount, the length and route of exposure.

Animal studies suggest that exposure to a large amount of the chemical at once, through drinking or inhaling it, can have toxic liver and kidney effects.

Other studies have exposed rodents to the chemical for two years via drinking water.  Those studies suggest that lower doses, over long periods of time, can also have toxic effects, leading to liver cancer, and, less commonly, kidney, peritoneum, mammary and nasal cavity cancers.

Orlando Sentinel holding community forum on Seminole County water

In 2013, the EPA estimated that if someone drank water with a 1,4-dioxane concentration of 0.35 parts per billion for 70 years, this would increase their risk of cancer by less than 1 in 1 million.

There haven’t been any studies on the impacts of long-term oral exposure in humans, however.

It’s likely that the health impacts of 1,4-dioxane vary based on what other risk factors or chemicals a person is exposed to. The American Cancer Society notes online that even if a substance is a probable carcinogen, carcinogens don’t cause cancer in every circumstance, and this “does not necessarily mean that it can or should be avoided at all costs.”

An ongoing study at Yale University may bring answers but won’t wrap up until at least 2027. The study’s leader has previously told the Orlando Sentinel he tries to avoid drinking water with dioxane or any other chemicals.

Should certain populations take extra caution to avoid chemicals like 1,4-dioxane in tap water?

There isn’t enough research to say, but it’s possible that some people will be more vulnerable to the chemical’s impacts.

The EPA states online that because children are still developing, they may be more sensitive to some drinking water contaminants, such as PFAs. They also drink more relative to their body weight than adults.

However, there have been no studies on the effects of this chemical in children or pregnant women.  It’s also possible that people with certain conditions are more sensitive to this chemical, as is the case with several other environmental contaminants.

However, there’s not enough research to know for sure, said American Cancer Society scientific director Leticia Noguiera.

Can I find out if my illness was caused by 1,4-dioxane?

At the moment, no. There’s often no way to link an illness back to a specific contaminant, even if there is proof of exposure.

Many illnesses, including cancer, are believed to develop as a result of several different factors, not just one. In addition, while it may be clear that you’ve been exposed to 1,4-dioxane currently in your water, there is no way to determine if you’ve been exposed to 1,4-dioxane in the past.

Though 1,4-dioxane can linger for decades if not removed from a water source, it leaves the human body quickly and there are no currently known biomarkers associated with a past exposure. Effects can take years to develop, if any occur.

What is the US Environmental Protection Agency doing about this?

The EPA regulates over 90 contaminants in drinking water, requiring utilities to test for them and share their results publicly. 1,4-dioxane is not one of them, but it may soon be.

In 2016, the EPA announced plans to review 1,4-dioxane alongside nine other chemicals under an expansion of the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act that gave it more power to regulate chemicals than ever before.

In 2020, the agency released a risk assessment that focused mostly on occupational exposure to the chemical, and found that the chemical posed unreasonable risks to workers, but not the general population. That risk assessment, however, failed to consider many of the ways people are exposed to 1,4-dioxane in their everyday lives.

In July, the agency released a draft of a supplement to the original 2020 analysis, and a draft of a new risk evaluation of the chemical. The new draft considers dioxane exposures from air, drinking water and consumer products that were excluded from the original evaluation. The draft concludes that this chemical puts human health at risk.

“EPA proposes to determine that 1,4-dioxane, as a whole chemical substance, presents unreasonable risk to human health,” the EPA states.

These documents are preliminary. They will undergo a peer review and public comment process until September, which may alter their conclusions. If the determination is finalized that 1,4-dioxane presents an unreasonable risk, the agency will have a year to propose new rules to mitigate those risks, and two years to issue a final rule, according to an overview of the risk management process.

Sentinel reporters Kevin Spear and Martin Comas contributed to this report. Caroline Catherman can be reached at ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com or @CECatherman Twitter.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the service area of Sunshine Water Services.