TodayCumberland County residents concerned about water treatment
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Article RatingCumberland County residents worried about the introduction of a chemical into their water supply will meet with water company and government officials Friday night in Camp Hill to voice their concerns.
Pennsylvania American Water Co. (PAWC) plans to add the chemical chloramine into water served to its roughly 35,000 customers in Cumberland and York counties despite opposition from some customers who say the new chemical is harmful.
The customers’ concern has already delayed the introduction of chloramine once -- the company had planned to add the chemical in August but didn’t to give people more time to transition to it, according to company spokeswoman Joi Corrado.
Those worried about chloramine say it produces more dangerous byproducts in the water than the chemical it’s replacing, chlorine.
Susan Pickford, who has filed a formal complaint over the matter with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, said chloramines have caused health problems across the country, mostly respiratory. She said the water companies have not considered recent studies that show chloramines create more dangerous by-products than chlorine.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has mandated water companies lower levels of disinfectant byproducts in their supplies -- the byproducts are the result of chlorine reacting with organic matter in the water.
Water companies are switching to chloramines because industry officials say they create fewer byproducts than chlorine. The EPA estimates nearly 68 million people in the country already have chloramines in their water, including four million in Pennsylvania.
Officials from the water company and state Department of Environmental Protection say chloramines are safe.
Corrado said her company is aware of the recent studies and still thinks the water will not cause any adverse health effects. Only owners of fish and dialysis patients need to take steps to deal with the switch -- many of whom have already done so, she said.
John Repetz, a spokesman for the state DEP, said his department thinks chloramines are safer than chlorine.
He said chlorine dissipates into the air much quicker than chloramines, which is the reason the chemical can harm people.
The meeting, which is open to the public, will feature officials from PAWC, the EPA, DEP and state Department of Health, all of whom will field questions from the public.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Camp Hill Borough Hall, 2145 Walnut St.
