Higher than expected levels of uranium have been discovered in a public well in the Jenkinsville community.

Jenkinsville residents received some unwanted news in their mailboxes last week. A letter titled “Important Information About Your Drinking Water” from the Jenkinsville Water Company was mailed to area residents.

The letter, dated June 17, 2010, states that the Jenkinsville Water Company has levels of uranium above the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL).

Concerns about the uranium levels were raised at Monday’s County Council meeting by 22 year Jenkinsville resident Deborah Gunter, who farms and trains horses on her land.

“This causes kidney problems and my family has kidney problems,” she said. “We also use our wells for our livestock, and that is also a concern.”

Copies of the letter were made and distributed to the council members during the meeting. Several members said they were reading it for the first time.

According to Jim Beasley, Spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC), the wells are on a three-year monitoring schedule. When a well exceeds contamination standards set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for drinking water, the source is then checked quarterly. The readings are averaged for four consecutive quarters. If the findings are above the national regulations for any contaminate, by law the water company must send a notice to residents and shut down the well.

“We discovered that it had exceeded the limit for uranium earlier this month,” said Beasley. “We do not know of any other affected wells in Fairfield County.”

“Uranium is naturally occurring in granite,” said Beasley. “Our experts assure me that this has no connection to the nuclear power plant.”

The V.C. Summer Nuclear Plant is in Jenkinsville. Two new reactors are being planned for the existing facility.

Gregrey Ginyard is the president of the Jenkinsville Water Company and mayor for the Town of Jenkinsville. He has previously voiced concerns over expanding the nuclear plant.

“Well #10 is located in Blair off of Highway 99,” said Ginyard. “The new test well is on Clowney Road, probably seven or eight miles away.”

Ginyard said that in the past, other wells in Jenkinsville have been shut down because of contamination, both from iron and radon.

“Nobody is in any danger of contamination,” said Ginyard. “As far as I know, there have not been any other well problems in Jenkinsville. Can I say that this uranium contamination is from the nuclear plant? No, I can’t say that.”

The letter reads, in full:

“Our water system recently violated a MCL,” the letter from the Jenkinsville Water Company says. “Although this is not an emergency, as our customers you have a right to know what happened, what you should do, and what we are doing to correct this situation.

“We are routinely monitored for the presence of drinking water contaminants. Testing results we received show that our system exceeds the standards, or MCL, for uranium. The MCL for uranium is 30 micrograms per liter. The average level of uranium over the last year was 33.4 micrograms per liter.

“You do not need to use an alternative source of water. However if you have specific health concerns, consult your doctor.

“This is not an immediate risk. If it had been you would have been notified immediately. However, some people who drink water containing uranium in excess of the MCL over many years may have an increased risk of getting cancer and kidney toxicity.

“In June 2010, DHEC found uranium exceeded the MCL levels in well # 10. We are discontinuing the use of Well #10. We are currently drilling a new test well on Clowney Road to replace Well #10.

“For more information please contact Gregrey Ginyard at 803-718-6184 or by visiting us at 12924 State Highway 213, Jenkinsville, South Carolina.

“Date distributed June 21, 2010.”

The EPA, under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, regulates the quality of water supplied by public water systems. Under these regulations, public water supplies classified as community water systems (CWS) are required to test for uranium. A CWS is a public water system that has at least 15 service connections or serves 25 persons on a regular, year-round basis (e.g., cities, villages, rural water districts, sanitary improvement districts, mobile home parks, etc., with their own water supplies).

The enforceable standard for uranium content is 30 micrograms per liter, which also can be expressed as 30 parts per billion.

Uranium cannot be detected by taste, sight or smell. The only way to determine the concentration is through sampling and testing.

Studies done by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources have found that uranium is a naturally occurring radioactive mineral present in certain types of rocks and soils found throughout the United States, including South Carolina. As water containing oxygen passes thorough and over rock and soil formations, many compounds and minerals, including uranium, dissolve and go into the groundwater.

The University of Nebraska and EPA agree that uranium concentrations can also result from human activities, such as mining, combustion from coal and other fuels, the use of phosphate fertilizers and nuclear power production.

Most drinking water sources have very low levels of radioactive contaminants (radionuclides), which are not considered to be a public health concern. Of the small percentage of drinking water systems with radioactive contaminant levels high enough to be of concern, most of the radioactivity is naturally occurring.

The EPA states that a very small percentage of drinking water systems are located in areas that have potential sources of man-made radioactive contamination from facilities that use, manufacture or dispose of radioactive substances. Drinking water contamination may occur through accidental releases of radioactivity or through improper disposal practices. Water systems that are vulnerable to this type of contamination are required to perform extensive monitoring for radioactive contamination to ensure that their drinking water is safe.

The health effects of uranium in drinking water are chronic (the delayed result of continuous consumption over a long period of time) rather than acute (the immediate result of consumption). Individual risk depends on the concentration, how much water was consumed and for how long, as well as the age and general health of the individual.

The EPA believes that a MCL of 30 micrograms per liter is protective of the general population, including children and the elderly. They have determined that an MCL of 30 micrograms per liter maximizes the health risk reduction benefits at a cost justified by the benefits. This finding is based on the fact that potential uranium MCLs lower than 30 micrograms per liter have substantially higher associated compliance costs and only modest additional cancer risk reduction and kidney toxicity benefits. The EPA has not selected a higher MCL for several reasons. Higher uranium MCLs would still incur implementation and monitoring costs, with benefits greatly diminished because uranium does not occur significantly at levels much higher than 30 micrograms per liter. Additionally, the EPA believes that a uranium MCL of 30 micrograms per liter is appropriate since it is protective of kidney toxicity and cancer with an adequate margin of safety. The EPA does not believe that MCL options higher than 30 micrograms per liter afford a sufficient measure of protection against kidney toxicity.

“My pastures just flat out did not grow rye grass for my horses like in years past,” said Gunter. “My vegetables won’t grow either. We find many dead birds and rabbits out here. SCE&G used to come out and check our crops once a year. We haven’t seen them for several years.”