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Wells Planned In Search For Lithia-Keysville Arsenic

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By GEORGE WILKENS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 3, 2008

KEYSVILLE - KEYSVILLE - The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will drill monitoring wells to help determine the cause of unsafe arsenic levels detected in the Lithia-Keysville area in 2006.

Nineteen private wells in an area east of Pritcher Road yielded arsenic concentrations exceeding state drinking water standards, according to the state agency. The latest samples include one twice as high as previously recorded in the area, figures show.

An agreement approved Feb. 20 by the Hillsborough County Commission paved the way for the DEP to drill one cluster of monitoring wells on county conservation land on Henry George Road near the Alafia River.

DEP spokeswoman Pam Vazquez said her agency has been working with the Hillsborough County Health Department to identify drinking-water wells in the area with unsafe levels of arsenic. "In Florida, arsenic is naturally occurring," she said.

Arsenic is a semimetallic element that can enter drinking water from natural deposits in the ground or from agricultural and industrial practices. It has been identified as a cancer-causing agent if ingested over long periods.

Pritcher Road is a rural area off Nichols Road near Polk County.

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