OCALA, Fla. – The federal government is promising to deal with toxic chemicals affecting people's drinking water.
On Thursday, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said the agency will regulate the toxic chemicals perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
They're some of the same chemicals that have been found in the water of at least two communities in Central Florida.
Last year, small concentrations were found in Satellite Beach in Brevard County and Ocala in Marion County.
In 2018, six workers at Florida State Fire College in Ocala filed a class action lawsuit claiming those chemicals, which are commonly found in flame retardants, made them sick.
Helen Lawson lives within a mile of the fire college.
After the school's water testing, her water was tested.
The results revealed chemicals that could be potentially unsafe.
Since then, the county health department has supplied her and her neighbors bottles of water and most recently installed a water filtration system in her backyard.
"(We) hope for the best and hope it doesn't do any more damage than it has already done to our family. I hope no one comes up with any nasty medical issues. We have been consuming this for a long time," Lawson said.
According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the chemicals are deemed potentially unsafe if they're found at levels higher than 70 parts per trillion.
According to the lawsuit filed in federal court in Ocala, the chemicals were found at the Fire College at levels of 270,000 parts per trillion.
Lawson said one of the first thoughts she had was, "Um, is this going to kill us?"
This isn't isn't a stationary issue. Having harmful chemicals in drinking water is a nationwide problem.
"The action plan commits EPA to take important steps that will improve how we research, monitor, detect and address PFAS," Wheeler said.
Those steps, which he said should produce answers and action by the end of the year, include listing harmful chemicals as contaminants under its Superfund program and providing guidance for groundwater cleanup actions at contaminated areas.