TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. — There was hardly a spare seat at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Temple Terrace City Council. Most of the unusually large crowd attended for one reason.
Currently, many are concerned about the quality of the city’s drinking water.
WATCH: Temple Terrace takes steps to address concerning chemicals in drinking water
A recently discovered report from March shows the results of a test that found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) — which are also known as forever chemicals — at higher than recommended levels in city water.
One particular forever chemical, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), was measured at a level almost five times higher than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s max contaminant level of 4.0 parts per trillion (ppt).
The chemicals, which are also in everyday products used for cooking, food packaging, and personal care, can cause cancer and other ailments, according to the EPA.
It's a huge red flag to Neil Scott, whose three-year-old daughter battled Leukemia back in the Nineties.
“It’s a serious issue,” he told ABC Action News. “You can go down to the oncology ward of any of these hospitals and watch children make that battle, and it’s brutal. It’s not fun.”
During the council meeting, Temple Terrace Mayor Andy Ross told the worried room that ‘forever chemical’ contamination isn’t just a temple Terrace problem. Instead, it’s a problem being realized across the state and country, and it’s one still being studied and debated.
“We are going through what society goes through periodically,” Ross said. “You know, think of asbestos, lead paint, lead pipes, cigarette smoke.”
Temple Terrace, however, is working on a fix.
The city’s water infrastructure might need an expensive new filter capable of removing PFAS. City Manager Carlos Baía said a team of consultants could have a proposed solution drawn up for the council’s consideration soon.
“We are taking steps, and we hope that over the next several weeks we’ll have a proposal in place,” he said.
However, community members urged the city to do even more. One suggested rebates for homeowners to help them purchase home filtration systems. Others demanded better communication and a townhall meeting to discuss the PFAS findings.
In a 3-to-1 vote, council members did agree to hold a town hall meeting within the next four weeks. Meanwhile, the mayor said rebates would mean costlier water bills.
Whatever the solution, Scott wants the city to show more urgency.
“We don’t want to panic, but we don’t want to downplay,” he said.
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