Whether the city's conduct amounted to legal negligence could soon be decided in court. At least seven Chesapeake women who had miscarriages or other pregnancy complications in 1997 and 1998 believe the city ''poisoned'' them with THM, or trihalomethane, according to letters sent to the city. These letters announce their intention to sue. The science linking THM to the short-term risk of miscarriage is inconclusive. Chesapeake's miscarriage rate, which is difficult to accurately assess, did not increase in 1998.
Miscarriages are extremely common and are nearly impossible to trace to any one factor.
A broader question remains, however, about whether the local, state and federal government adequately protected Chesapeake citizens over the past 20 years. Chesapeake, with the approval of the state health department, tests for THM in a way that minimizes high readings. Chesapeake takes two of its four annual samples in December and January, when the contaminant's levels are lowest. Until recently, sections of the city, including parts of Deep Creek, Greenbrier, Western Branch, Great Bridge and South Norfolk, consistently registered THM levels well above the city average, potentially placing residents there at greater risk. The city did not disclose these individual levels to the public and was not required to under state and federal law.