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Cancer study, blood tests weighed for residents near tainted wells

The water may now be safe to drink, but concerns persist about the impact of tainted wells near former military bases in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

The water may now be safe to drink, but concerns persist about the impact of tainted wells near former military bases in Bucks and Montgomery Counties.

Officials said Thursday that the Pennsylvania Department of Health would launch a regional cancer study and was considering blood tests for residents near wells in Horsham and Warminster found to have been contaminated by base firefighting foams.

The chemicals have been linked to cancer and reproductive issues.

"Quite frankly, nobody knows what the long-term effects are at this point," Will Freeman, a legislative specialist with the Department of Health, said at a meeting of local, state, and federal officials led by State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf (R., Montgomery).

The meeting came a week after the Environmental Protection Agency issued stricter guidelines on water contamination from firefighting foams used at military bases in the area.

Freeman said large-scale blood testing for thousands of residents in the areas would be difficult, if not unprecedented - the largest test performed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention involved only 300 people. But the department was exploring options at the request of Gov. Wolf, he said.

Cancer rates are already available on a countywide basis, Freeman said, because it is a reportable disease. Regional studies, which take up to three months, can be performed at the request of lawmakers.

The Health Department received a request this week to study the prevalence of cancer near the former military bases in Horsham and Warminster.

Even with cancer statistics, however, officials said it was difficult to pinpoint the cause of any one individual's disease.

Federal health officials are also expected to release new studies in the coming months.

"We're kind of in a holding pattern of sorts," Freeman said.

Though they discussed potential reactions to health concerns, officials were clear on one point: The water is safe to drink.

Horsham, Warminster, and Warrington have taken contaminated public wells off-line and worked with the Navy to offer bottled water to residents with private wells in the last two years.

Additional wells were taken off-line last week when the EPA released a stricter standard for the amount of contaminant considered safe in drinking water.

"You're convinced? So residents should not be concerned?" Greenleaf asked officials.

"We feel very strongly that the water supply is safe based on the standards that have been given to us," said Tina O'Rourke, business manager for the Horsham Water and Sewer Authority.

lmccrystal@phillynews.com

610-313-8116 @LMcCrystall