Paden City Hoping for Quick Test Results on Water Sample

Aug 26, 2023

photo by: Shelley Hanson

Paden City resident Linda Duke washes her hands at her kitchen sink on Wednesday. Duke and her husband, Charlie, installed a special water filtration system at their home that they hope is filtering out tetrachloroethylene in the water system. The plan to have their tap water tested for peace of mind.

PADEN CITY — Mayor Steve Kastigar is hoping a water sample driven to a lab earlier this week in Columbus, Ohio, will soon be tested and show Paden City’s water is safe to use again.

Kastigar said Friday that Paden City’s water superintendent Josh Billiter drove a sample of water to a lab Wednesday to be tested for tetrachloroethylene, also known as PCE. A second required sample was sent by UPS on Friday to the same lab.

Kastigar did not know off-hand the name of the lab.

The city’s air stripper, which is designed to remove PCE from the water, went offline after a power outage at the plant causing a valve to malfunction, Kastigar said.

This allowed tainted water to enter the city’s water system including people’s homes and businesses. A water sample taken after that malfunction showed the water had PCE levels six times higher than what is allowed by national standards.

“We’re hoping to get the results in two to three days. We’re hoping by Monday,” Kastigar said Friday.

He said the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources Bureau of Public Health told the city it must have two consecutive readings of water samples that show the PCE is “non-detectable” before it can be used again. Residents have been told not to drink the water or use it for bathing or washing clothes.

Kastigar said he did not know if non-detectable meant zero or simply at the allowable limits for the contaminant.

“I’m assuming they mean below allowable limits,” he said. “We’re fairly confident we took care of the problem.

“The valve malfunctioned somehow and allowed water back in,” he continued. “The stripper is working fine again. We flushed the pipes, close to 1 million gallons.”

Terry Fletcher, spokesman for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, said that Paden City’s method of flushing was safe for the community.

“Based on the reported number of gallons flushed and the approximate concentration of PCE (900,000 gallons and a concentration in the range of 30 ppb), the WVDEP does not expect any adverse environmental impacts stemming from the flushing,” he said in an email. “The State’s immediate and primary concern is ensuring citizens’ drinking water and public health remain protected. There are no prohibitions on this action and both agencies will continue to support the City to help mitigate this issue.”

The West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, the agency that oversees drinking water quality, said its Bureau for Public Health was first notified of the elevated levels on Aug. 16. However, those levels were found in routine testing collected on July 19, and the lab Paden City sent those results to provided them to the state’s Safe Drinking Water Information System on Aug. 8.

“After being notified by the EPA on August 16, 2023, of the elevated PCE result, OEHS began looking at the SDWIS database as part of a quality assurance check. Due to an error discovered in the SDWIS system, the OEHS program compliance staff were not notified of the elevated result on August 8, 2023,” Holstein said in an email. “After discovering the error, OEHS immediately began focusing efforts on performing quality assurance and quality improvement while providing additional staff to investigate and address the situation.”

Paden City officials had first sent water samples taken after the air stripper’s repair to a testing site in Florida, and said those results may take three to four weeks to return.

Holstein said there are no labs in West Virginia certified for that type of testing of drinking water. Because of that, getting results returned could take a while.

“There are multiple factors that contribute to getting sample results back from labs, ranging from courier transport to the amount of volume and testing capacity the lab is experiencing,” she said.

“This specific procedure has a 14-day hold time. The lab may have held them a few days to run in batches which could delay results.

“If this type of test or method is not run regularly, there could be an initial quality control and instrument calibration that would need to be run, which could also add a few more days to get results.”

Kastigar said the city may need to look into adding another bypass system to help prevent what happened most recently. He said the city may want to get a carbon filter or reverse osmosis filter as a backup. These methods may cost more money, but may be worth it, he noted.

The activated charcoal filter, aka carbon filter, would be almost as efficient as the air stripper, but cost more. The city may also want to look into adding another air stripper, he said.

“We have to look at something. The bypass line (issue) can’t happen again,” he said.

Kastigar said the city and others are working hard to fix the situation and get water to people in need. He said they are especially concerned for the elderly who need it delivered to them.

Some residents have voiced concerns over health issues surrounding the PCE levels in the drinking water, which has been elevated in the past. According to previous published reports, the chemical was found in Paden City’s groundwater in 2010 and 2017. And in January 2020, the city’s water authority told residents that PCE was found in the water at levels three times the federal limit. The air stripper plant went into operation in May 2020.

Kastigar believes some people who are expressing concern about the water crisis are causing “drama and confusion.” He noted he was raised drinking the local water and swam in the Ohio River as a kid.

“This problem isn’t new,” he said. “I grew up in it and I never grew a third eye.”

Environmental officials believe the origin of the PCE is from the site of a former dry cleaners business where the chemical was used and got into the city’s underground aquifer, which is its water source. Kastigar said U.S. EPA officials are doing vapor testing in the area.

Until the test results are received, the city will continue to hand out water to residents. Kastigar said people are being asked to only take as much as they need to ensure everyone gets some. He said they are now also using bulk water from the Tyler County Public Service District instead of just handing out cases of water. For bulk water, people must bring their own containers to use.

Water is slated to be available at the Paden City Fire Hall from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday; 3-6 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, and from noon to 3 p.m. Sept. 2.

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