DeBerry (KTBS) - One East Texas man is still searching for answers, a decade after discovering his community's drinking water was filled with pollutants. He's hoping new sample testing and government agencies can help in his battle for clean water.
DeBerry resident, Reverend David Hudson, filters his tap water for daily uses, such as dish washing, bathing and drinking. He says it's a necessity that began 10 years ago, when he noticed something wrong with the water from his private well.
"It had an unusual odor to it and the water would stain the bathtubs," said Hudson.
Hudson and his neighbors in predominately African-American town, became suspicious of the numerous injection wells just feet from their homes. So, they sent has the Railroad Commission of Texas take samples of their water to be tested.Results showed the water contained arsenic, cadmium, lead, benzene and other substances. But, the commission's investigation showed no connection between the injection well sites and the contaminated water.
In a statement to KTBS, Railroad Commission spokesperson, Ramona Nye said, "The Commission's investigation determined that nearby injection wells were not linked to water issues reported in shallow, private water wells in this area.The Commission investigation did not identify a large plume of hydrocarbon and saltwater in the groundwater that connected the former Mitchell injection well facility to residents' water wells."
"Also, Commission staff installed a deep monitor well (roughly 170 feet deep) next to the former Mitchell facility injection well to test for contamination in a deeper aquifer and found none. Finally, injection permit records showed that Basic's injection well was in compliance with MIT(Mechanical Integrity Test)requirements and not leaking."
But, the commission's investigation could not reveal where the chemicals came from either.
"No footprint is identified from any company and that's impossible," said Hudson. "I think a lot of this could have been resolved if monitoring wells and test samples happened prior to issuing permits that close to private drinking water wells in a residential community."
Hudson says someone should be held responsible. But, not so they can be punished, so that it can be prevented from happening in other neighborhoods.
"I'm not hung up on fines and lawsuits," said Hudson. "It's helping the citizens with an alternative. I think citizens deserve better, and I think their civil rights are being violated."
In fact, Hudson recently addressed the US Department of Housing and Urban Development., requesting an investigation into what he believes is a discrimination issue. He says many of the injection wells, which he still believes are the cause of the water contamination, are placed near areas with large African-American populations. And, he says it's affecting their livelihoods.
"They cannot get a line of credit, a second mortgage and then they suffer from the heavy dust from all the heavy truck traffic. I don't think it's fair."
Hudson says he understands that injection wells are needed in East Texas, he says he just wants them to have a safer operation.
He said, "We're not concerned about that that's coming out of the ground that boosts our economy, from oil and gas. That's not the issue. The issue is what's going back into the ground."
Hudson and his neighbors were given bottled water to use for about a year, before they were put on the Panola/Bethany water system. He recently had the Environmental Protection Agency test that water supply. The EPA sent us this statement about those results: "The water samples were sent to three laboratories for analysis. Analysis of the samples from two laboratories show no violations of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Analytical results from the third laboratory have not been received."
