According to today’s Washington Post (free reg req’d):
Eric DeJonghe believes it is better to be safe than sorry. That’s why he recently took tap water from his Sterling home to a Herndon lab to have it tested for a chemical whose tongue-twisting name he has come to know well: trichloroethylene, or TCE.
DeJonghe, president of the Broad Run Farms Civic Association, has reason to be concerned: In 22 of 67 wells in the section of his subdivision recently tested by the Loudoun County Health Department, the water was found to contain TCE, which can increase the risk of health problems, including cancer, in people exposed to it for long periods. Sixteen of the wells showed TCE concentrations at or above the highest level allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency.
[...]
[Director of Loudoun County health department, David] Goodfriend said that finding so many wells with TCE — a solvent typically used to remove grease from metal parts — was “concerning,” particularly because it meant that some residents might have been exposed to the chemical for many years. But he said the pattern was not noticed until this year.
[...]
If the landfill is linked to the contamination, its owners — Philip Smith of Oakton, Va., and the estate of his deceased partner, Albert Moran — will be responsible for cleanup, Steers said.
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