Questions remain about cancer incidence and its cause in and around South Patrick Shores and Satellite Beach, but a follow-up round of testing in both areas shows that the city has less contamination than was once feared.
The Satellite Beach City Council on Jan. 23 agreed to pay $2,000 to mail a letter on the groundwater test results from Applied Ecology Inc. to every resident, addressing concerns regarding Perfluoroalkyl/Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) related to proximity to Patrick Air Force Base.
According to the letter, none of the nine locations tested above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Irrigation Water Safety Levels (IWSLs) for any of the substances. The only locations that tested positive for the PFOA and PFOS had levels below the regulatory standards for protection of human health or environment.
The city had paid $9,000 for the first round of testing released in August, including shallow monitoring wells installed by the City at Satellite Beach City Hall, Jackson Avenue, Delaura Middle School, and Sea Park Community Park.
Then in September, environmental activist Erin Brockovich took aim at the Satellite Beach area about water-quality issues and decades-old military-industrial debris that had been unearthed near Patrick Air Force Base.
Brockovich traveled to Florida and hosted a packed town hall on Sept. 28 to keep the heat on public officials.
The second round of testing cost $17,000 and was coordinated with Brevard County, said Satellite Beach City Manager Courtney Barker.
“We used the same (testing) company and reviewed each of the scopes to be consistent. The county also has a lot more staff expertise than we do, so we really relied on their advice throughout the process.
‘The city wanted to determine if any contaminates existed in the groundwater beyond the PFOS/PFOA, which we were already aware of (from the first round of testing), that could be contributing to any possible elevated cancer cases,’’ she said.
The tests confirmed those PFOS and PFOA results and provided data from other areas of the county and the lagoon for comparison with the Satellite Beach results.
Additionally, according to the letter, the three shallow monitoring wells installed by the city were selected for a full suite of federally listed priority pollutants, carcinogens, volatile and semi-volatile organics, pesticides, herbicides, perchlorate and radionuclides tests. Of these three sites, there were no detectable concentrations for any of the 37 volatiles and 60 semi-volatiles, or the 19 priority pollutant pesticides and 11 herbicides.
“We learned that our groundwater is safe. Other than the PFOS and PFOA, we do not have groundwater contamination,’’ Barker said.
One unexpected result showed elevated contaminant levels at some locations in the Indian River Lagoon. “We were surprised by the lagoon results being higher than we expected. We were expecting more dilution,’’ Barker said.
The city is waiting for a report from the Florida Department of Health to determine if there have any elevated cancer rates as was suspected earlier, along with fears that “cancer clusters” occurred due to contamination.
The full report can be seen on satellitebeachfl.org.