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Chincoteague Wells May Have Been Contaminated for Decades

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The federal government is now examining whether chemical contamination of Chincoteague wells may have been affected local wells for decades before it was discovered in 2017.

The town was disconnected from those wells at the time of the discovery.

TheSalisbury Daily Times reports that now the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will be looking at the historical levels of PFAS levels in the drinking water.

The probe is the result of a petition AFGE Local 1923 the union that represents workers at the Wallops Flight Facility.

The paper reports that union members checked the NASA records for the amount of water flowing into the wells over the last 30 years.

They concluded that the chemical may have been present in the drinking water at an exposure level of 5 to 10 times the federal limit.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.