A day after an Orlando Sentinel investigation revealed that a toxic chemical has contaminated drinking water in northwest Seminole County for years, county officials on Wednesday posted a brief explanation of 1,4-dioxane on Seminole’s website and assured the public that its water is safe.
“The county’s potable water systems are sampled and tested for contaminants based on monitoring requirements established by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection,” according to the county website. “Safeguarding Seminole County’s drinking water is of the highest importance to the Board of County Commissioners and County staff.”
It also states that through August, county staff will begin collecting samples from all 25 potable wells within the county’s water service area “and the points of entry for all five potable water systems” on a monthly basis.
According to the website statement, the county has “engaged a consultant to assist with developing short-and-long-term plans to address internal protocols and processes related to sampling, monitoring, and reporting.”
The response comes after the Sentinel published online the first of a four-story series called Toxic Secret, about 1,4-dioxane contamination in Seminole. The second story will be published online Thursday and the first two will appear in Sunday’s print edition.
Concentrations of 1,4-dioxane in the county’s Northwest Service Area west of Interstate 4 have been about half that of the federal and state advisory level of 0.35 parts per billion. However, the chemical has been poorly studied for health effects and the first major study involving people began last year.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1,4-dioxane is likely to cause liver and kidney cancers and other illnesses, and it is currently labeled as a contaminant of “emerging concern.”
This is the first time in eight years that Seminole County has publicly disclosed that its drinking water has been contaminated with 1,4-dioxane. In 2015, the county provided a brief and obscure reference to the chemical in its annual water report to customers.
Because 1,4-dioxane is currently not regulated for drinking water, Seminole County is under no obligation to keep its water customers informed about the chemical in annual water reports.
The synthetic chemical was used at a former Siemens telecommunications factory in Lake Mary that closed in 2003 amid an investigation into hazardous pollution there that included 1,4-dioxane. The factory is less than a half-mile from three county drinking water wells, which have been documented since 2016 as tainted with the chemical.
Lake Mary’s drinking water also was tainted with the chemical until 2021, when the city started up an advanced water treatment plant paid for by the factory owners. Sanford also is struggling to get rid of 1,4-dioxane in its drinking water, which the city says is likely from the factory’s pollution.
Seminole County’s statement on 1,4-dioxane includes details from the county’s own testing two months ago of drinking water that suggests a sudden and dramatic drop in concentrations of 1,4-dioxane.
According to the statement, “internal sampling” of county drinking water in May found “minimal-to-no detection of the contaminant.” Seminole County government leaders first learned of the contamination in February from the Orlando Sentinel.
But tests several times a year since 2016 by the factory’s environment consultant have never detected such a dramatic fluctuation in concentration before, according to the consultant’s March report.
The county’s website statement did not address whether the county will seek to remove 1,4-dioxane from its drinking water.
1,4-dioxane is often in the form of a colorless, flammable liquid. It is also an ingredient in some plastics manufacturing, dyes, greases, deodorants, shampoos, cosmetics, toothpaste and pesticides.
Toxic Secret: Our series about 1,4-dioxane in Seminole water
- Part 1 – A toxic chemical, 1,4-dioxane, has infiltrated waters of three utilities.
- Thursday: Part 2 – Local water utilities have struggled with how to address 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen
- Tuesday, July 18: Part 3 – 1,4-dioxane has a seemingly sinister ability to invade the Floridan Aquifer.
- Thursday, July 22: Part 4 – 1,4-dioxane in Seminole water has been a virtual secret. How one family found out.
Know more about this issue?
Do you have pertinent information about the 1,4-dioxane contamination in Seminole County water you would like to share with us for our reporting? If so, please email us at toxicsecret@orlandosentinel.com.
About the journalists who reported this series
- Kevin Spear is the Orlando Sentinel’s environmental reporter. He has been with the newspaper for 34 years and for most of that time has covered key issues relating to water, wildlife and land use. He can be reached at kspear@orlandosentinel.com
- Caroline Catherman is the Orlando Sentinel’s health reporter. She joined the newspaper in 2021 after previously working in public health research. She can be reached at ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com
- Martin E. Comas is the Orlando Sentinel’s Seminole County reporter. He started at the newspaper in 1988 and has covered key Seminole stories including the death of Trayvon Martin and its aftermath, and the controversies surrounding disgraced Tax Collector Joel Greenberg. He can be reached at mcomas@orlandosentinel.com
- Joe Burbank is the Orlando Sentinel’s senior photographer. He joined the newspaper in 1988 after working for Agence France-Presse news. He has spent more than three decades covering Central Florida with his visual reporting. He can be reached at jburbank@orlandosentinel.com
- Rich Pope is the Orlando Sentinel’s videographer. He joined the newspaper in 2003. He has received Emmy nominations, along with recognitions from the Online News Association and Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. He can be reached at rpope@orlandosentinel.com
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Contributions to the Orlando Sentinel’s Community News Fund helped us produce this series. Please consider supporting our reporting by donating to the fund at OrlandoSentinel.com/donate
