Hi all,I'm a reporter in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. I've been covering a water crisis in one of our outer counties. Orange County, Va had a...
Published on by Heather Price Ives
I'm a reporter in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA. I've been covering a water crisis in one of our outer counties. Orange County, Va had a water crisis in Aug 2024. The water supply was contaminated with what authorities now claim came from 2-3 gallons of mineral oil due to a failed pump at the water treatment plant. I'm curious if anyone has any knowledge about the threshold for mineral oil infecting an entire public water supply? Benzene and hydrocarbons were discovered in the first day of the event. The water still smelled and tasted like petroleum 4 days after the crisis started and authorities told residents to start using and then start drinking the water- all while it was still brown and smelled and tasted of gasoline. How could 2-3 gallons of mineral oil cause this big a problem? It affected 13,000 residents and closed schools and businesses for days. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. I've reached out to Virginia Tech and Michigan State and neither one can answer these questions for me.
Thank you, Heather Price Ives- The Daily Progress hives@dailyprogress.com