Sanford seeks answers from Florida agencies on 1,4-dioxane contamination

Sanford is calling on two state agencies to say what they know regarding the 1,4-dioxane contamination first discovered a decade ago in the city’s wells, including at what concentration and over what period of time does the toxic chemical in drinking water become a threat to public health.

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