Document ID: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2003-0012-0115
Agency: epa
Document Type: Supporting & Related Material
Title: 
Posted Date: 2003-06-18T04:00Z

U.
S.
EPA
PUBLIC
MEETING
June
6,
2003
OPENING
STATEMENT
THE
LITTLE
HOCKING
WATER
ASSOCIATION,
INC.
LITTLE
HOCKING,
OHIO
Good
afternoon
everyone.
My
name
is
Bob
Griffin.
I
am
general
manager
of
the
Little
Hocking
Water
Association,
Inc.
I
would
like
to
thank
the
EPA
for
this
opportunity
to
comment.
I
would
like
to
share
our
perspective
on
the
C­
8
contamination
of
our
water
supply.
To
the
best
of
our
knowledge,
our
water
system
has
the
highest
level
of
C­
8
contamination
of
any
public
water
supply
in
the
United
States,
if
not
the
world.
The
C­
8
level
in
the
water
currently
being
delivered
to
our
customers
on
a
daily
basis
is
about
2.0
ppb.
This
is
twice
DuPont's
historic
community
exposure
guideline
of
1.0
ppb.

The
Little
Hocking
Water
Association
is
located
in
Washington
County,
Ohio.
We
are
a
rural
water
system
serving
about
12,000
people.
Our
water
wells
are
located
along
the
Ohio
River
directly
across
from
DuPont's
Washington
Works
plant
in
Wood
County,
West
Virginia.
The
prevailing
wind
blows
from
the
DuPont
plant
toward
our
well
field.
Last
year
DuPont
discharged
a
total
of
20,000
pounds
of
C­
8
from
the
Washington
Works
plant.
Other
Ohio
water
systems
both
upstream
and
downstream
from
us
have
C­
8
contaminated
water
supplies.
The
Tuppers
Plains­
Chester
Water
District
is
about
15
miles
downstream
from
us
and
their
aquifer
is
contaminated
with
C­
8.

One
of
the
goals
of
this
EPA
investigation
is
to
understand
how
the
general
public
is
being
exposed
to
C­
8.
Unfortunately,
in
our
case
we
already
know
some
of
the
pathways
by
which
people
in
our
community
are
being
exposed.
Twenty
years
ago,
DuPont
knew
C­
8
contaminated
our
water
but
we
didn't
find
out
about
it
until
about
a
year
and
a
half
ago.
Since
then
we
have
learned
that
C­
8
not
only
contaminates
the
aquifer
from
which
we
pump
our
drinking
water,
but
it
also
contaminates
our
soil
and
the
air
that
we
breathe.
In
water
samples
from
our
well
field
we
have
found
C­
8
levels
as
high
as
8.6
ppb
in
a
production
well;
up
to
78.0
ppb
in
a
test
boring.
In
soil
samples
we
have
found
levels
as
high
as
170
micrograms
per
kilogram.
It
is
now
apparent
that
our
community
has
probably
been
unknowingly
exposed
to
this
chemical
for
more
than
50
years.

It
is
my
understanding
that
the
EPA
will
not
pursue
human
biomonitoring
through
the
ECA's
that
we
are
discussing
today.
Even
so,
the
EPA
recognizes
that
the
population
living
near
the
industrial
sites
have
not
been
sampled
and
that
these
people
may
have
PFOA
blood
serum
levels
that
are
higher
than
the
general
population.
Based
on
a
chart
developed
by
DuPont,
there
have
been
newspaper
articles
suggesting
that
people
in
our
community
may
have
higher
C­
8
levels
in
their
blood
than
DuPont's
own
workers.
Therefore,
I
recommend
that
our
community
should
be
a
targeted
sampling
group.
Not
only
are
we
exposed
through
the
same
products
that
the
general
population
uses
nationwide,
we
are
also
exposed
through
our
air,
soil,
and
water.
Unfortunately,
we
are
a
ready­
made
study
group.

Under
the
West
Virginia
Consent
Order,
a
C­
8
`
screening
level'
of
150
ppb
for
water
was
established.
However,
the
very
industry
responsible
for
the
contamination
of
our
air,
water,
and
soil
was
heavily
involved
in
all
aspects
of
this
Consent
Order
work.
Consequently,
based
on
newspaper
polls,
the
majority
of
the
people
in
our
community
do
not
have
confidence
in
the
150
ppb
number.

Because
of
the
controversy
surrounding
this
issue,
there
is
a
need
for
a
study
of
the
problem
that
is
truly
independent
of
industries
that
have
a
vested
interest
in
the
outcome,
so
that
the
residents
of
our
community
can
have
some
confidence
about
the
quality
of
their
air
and
water.

Therefore,
we
are
requesting
that
we
not
be
forgotten
in
this
investigative
process
that
the
EPA
is
undertaking.
People
in
our
community
and
other
communities
along
the
Ohio
River
are
drinking
water
every
day
that
has
C­
8
in
it,
without
truly
knowing
the
long­
term
health
effects
to
them,
or
their
children
and
grandchildren.
PLEASE
DO
NOT
FORGET
US.
Please
give
us
data
and
information
that
we
can
have
confidence
in.
THANK
YOU