MIMS, Fla. – Chemicals that can cause cancer are still being found in some of Brevard County’s drinking water.
At water treatment plants in south Brevard at Barefoot Bay, and in north Brevard at the Mims Water Treatment Plant, recent samples found levels of PFAS — called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down — exceeding new EPA limits.
For decades, these kinds of chemicals weren’t regulated, and locally, people who live near Patrick Space Force Base blamed military chemicals in the environment when they got sick. Breast cancer survivor Victoria Hicks talked to Brevard County Community Correspondent James Sparvero during his extensive coverage in 2018 of a possible cancer cluster.
“This is not a coincidence that so many of us in our early 30s and some of us in our 20s getting cancer,” Hicks said.
[WATCH: Brevard cancer cluster study finds ample contamination (from 2022)]
For perspective, the EPA limits are in parts per trillion, so any detection is in a very small amount, but it’s enough to concern county commissioners like Katie Delaney, who will talk more about the chemicals in your water at Tuesday night’s commission meeting.
“You know, one glass of water isn’t going to be a problem, but a lifetime, or 10 years of drinking this, it will cause problems - thyroid problems, heart disease, cancer,” Delaney told Sparvero.
When asked what can be done beyond notifying people of the results, Delaney said the county has a plan.“We are working on a reverse osmosis system for our water facilities, and that will filter out the PFAS in this water,” she said.
[WATCH: Orange County aims to reduce potentially harmful chemicals in drinking water]
Commissioner Delaney told Sparvero that will take a couple of years, so when he asked her if your water is safe to drink right now, Delaney recommended getting a good filter.
If you’d like to see the full water sample results, they can be accessed here. Brevard County Board of County Commissioners - File #: 8555
You can watch Tuesday night’s commission meeting HERE.