Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 20, 1990 TAG: 9007210268
SECTION: SMITH MOUNTAIN TIMES PAGE: SMT2 EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Doris McGhee Daniels was forced to close her kitchen July 5 when a state inspector learned she was using water brought in from her home in Chamblissburg.
The well water the store would normally use is contaminated with benzene, a suspected cancer-causing chemical in gasoline, as well as low levels of other chemicals found in gasoline. The residents of a trailer park also use the well water, which was found to be contaminated more than a year ago. Since then, the residents have had to bring in drinking water.
Although Daniels said she did not cook with the water, regulations enforced by the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services require the kitchen's water source to be clean and pressurized.
Daniels' underground gasoline storage tanks are considered the cause of the water contamination. A leak in the lines leading to the two gas pumps in front of the store was repaired two years ago, but not before the spilled gasoline rose to the surface of the concrete in front of the grocery store and gas station.
The new water system, inspected by the Bedford Health Department and the Department of Agriculture, is to be used only by the store. Daniels is buying water from a commercial water company. The water is stored in two 1,000-gallon tanks, and an electric pump pipes it to the store.
Daniels is facing thousands of dollars in tests and work to restore the well water. Her gas pumps were shut down by the state Water Control Board until tests could determine if they were still leaking. She said closing her store's kitchen and the gas pumps was depriving her of two main sources of income.
by CNB