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Division of Water
Department for Environmental Protection lifts drinking water consumer advisory for Letcher County
FRANKFORT, KY (Feb. 25, 2009) – The Department for Environmental Protection (DEP) has lifted the drinking water consumer advisory issued Feb. 16 for Letcher County following laboratory analysis of water samples taken Monday at the Whitesburg drinking water treatment plant and in the Whitesburg and Letcher County distribution systems.
Laboratory results reported Wednesday to the Division of Water (DOW) indicated there were no measureable levels of diesel fuel in the water produced by the plant. The produced water has been cleared for drinking and all other uses.
As water use resumes, consumers are advised to flush pipes for 10 minutes if they detect an unusual odor to the water. If the odor persists, they should contact their water company for assistance. As a precaution, food and drinks prepared with water produced prior to the consumer advisory being issued should be discarded.
Guy Delius, director of the Division of Public Health Protection and Safety at the Department for Public Health, said he supported the decision to lift the advisory.
“We worked with the Division of Water and the Environmental Services Branch to review the sample results and remove this advisory as quickly as possible,” said Delius. “Our first priority has always been the health of our citizens.”
Peter Goodmann, DOW assistant director, said the Department for Environmental Protection has maintained daily contact with state and local officials, including Letcher County Judge-Executive John T. Ward, Whitesburg Mayor James W. Craft, representatives Leslie Combs and Ancel Smith and Senator Johnny Ray Turner.
The advisory was put into place Feb. 16 following the discovery of diesel oil seeping into the North Fork of the Kentucky River from a site approximately four miles above the plant’s raw water intake. The Kentucky Environmental Response Team was activated to respond to the emergency.
Tests on samples taken from the river and the distribution system immediately after the spill confirmed the presence of excessive levels of diesel fuel. Water that contains diesel fuel can be harmful if it is consumed, inhaled or comes into contact with the skin and eyes.
The DEP issued a notice of violation Feb. 20 to Don Childers Oil Inc. of Whitesburg in relation to the leakage of diesel oil into the North Fork of the Kentucky River in Letcher County four miles upstream of the water intake. The violations include endangering the public welfare, degradation of surface water, failure to obtain a pollutant discharge permit, unauthorized release of a petroleum product into waters of the commonwealth, disposal of waste at an unpermitted facility, failure to notify of a petroleum release into the environment and failure to prepare and implement a groundwater protection plan.
Cleanup activities at the site of the diesel fuel seepage are continuing and an investigation is underway.
Test sampling will continue daily at the treatment plant and at numerous points in the river until remediation of the spill site is complete.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), through the Safe Drinking Water Act, has established pollutant-specific criteria for public water systems. When a problem is detected, immediate testing and retesting requirements go into effect along with public notification that consumption has the potential of serious adverse effects on human health as a result of short-term exposure.
A consumer advisory is issued when there is a possibility that consumption of water produced by a water treatment plant may be harmful to human health.
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