Kansas residents drank contaminated water for years and authorities decided to keep them in the dark
Hundreds of residents in two Wichita-area neighborhoods in Kansas drank contaminated water for years while the state sat back and let it happened without informing the residents. Reports state that the contaminated water was allowed to be distributed in the neighborhoods despite warning signs of contamination detected near water wells, which were used for drinking, bathing and washing, according to Kansas.com.
The state, while probing for a possible expansion of a Kwik Shop, had discovered in 2011 that dry cleaning chemicals had contaminated groundwater at 412 W. Grand in Haysville. However, no action was taken by the Kansas Department of Health and Environment for over six years, reports state.
The authorities did not event test the private wells which were located less than a mile away from the contamination region, neither did they notify the residents that the water they drink has possibly been contaminated with perchloroethylene (PCE). The amount of PCE in groundwater was found to be higher than the level the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deems safe to drink.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment discovered groundwater contamination from a former dry cleaner near Wichita, Kan., in 2011, yet failed to notify residents for more than six years. Read the story: https://t.co/KLL4tUkySy pic.twitter.com/nJLHiNEmAz
— Water&WastesDigest (@WWDMag) August 27, 2018