One family on Twin Lakes Drive cannot drink their well water because it is contaminated from chemicals reportedly leaching out of two closed landfills.

A second family there has not been told to stop using their well water, but suspects the chemicals may have caused a disabling illness suffered by a 42-year-old woman two years ago.

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Trichloroethylene, a hazardous chemical used in industrial processes to clean grease off of metal parts, is the most dangerous contaminant found in the wells of two homes in the 1500 block of Twin Lakes Drive. One family was told they could not drink or even bathe in their well water.

Another family — Mark and Drema Havens and their three children — were told they can continue to use their well, but with caution. Mark Havens, who said he was advised chemical contamination levels of his water are close to the maximum allowed by the EPA, said his family will not use their well water until authorities determine the contamination has stopped.

Havens said his wife suffered a disabling illness two years ago and doctors at MedCentral/ Mansfield Hospital and The Ohio State University Medical Center were unable to determine the cause.

He said his family never suspected contaminated well water might have caused the illness, which includes blackouts for no apparent reason. Now, Havens said, his wife will be tested to determine if chemical contamination from well water may have affected her.

Twin Lakes Drive has eight houses and is about 75 yards from two dark-green, filthy, algae-filled ponds. A sign Friday afternoon advertised 10.7 acres for sale with two ponds, with the handwritten notation: “Cheap.”