MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation is again expanding the scope of its testing of drinking water wells for the presence of a potentially cancer-causing chemical.
Gov. Peter Shumlin’s office said Thursday that an additional 50 wells were tested in the North Bennington area and 19 samples detected levels of PFOA above the state’s advisory level. PFOA is a chemical in the manufacture of Teflon.
An additional 22 samples showed no PFOA contamination and the remainder had levels below the state level.
Five monitoring wells around the Bennington Landfill found the chemical. The state will expand testing to 150 private drinking wells in two nearby areas.
Vermont began testing in the Bennington County area after the chemical was found in the water supply in nearby Hoosick Falls, New York.
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