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Hazardous Waste Site Threatens Martinsville Drinking Water

Last updated on Wednesday, May 22, 2013

(MARTINSVILLE) - A hazardous waste site that threatens the drinking water supply in the south-central Indiana city of Martinsville has been added to the federal government’s highest priority cleanup list.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it's added to its National Priorities List a Martinsville Superfund site tainted with a chemical commonly used in dry cleaning called tetrachloroethylene.

That chemical is present in Martinsville's drinking water at levels above the EPA's safe drinking water standards.

The federal agency says that chemical has contaminated a city-operated drinking water well that serves about 5,000 Martinsville residents.

The EPA says levels of the chemical have continued to increase in that well and in several monitoring wells and the "risk to the community remains high."

The chemical appears to have come from numerous sources.

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