Public Works officials with the City of Olive Branch, Mississippi say they were not trying to cover up information about the safety of its drinking water. Residents received a letter last week after water that was tested in April showed unsafe levels of radioactive content called radium.
The City of Olive Branch received two violations from the Mississippi Department of Health. One for testing positive for elevated levels of radium, which can cause cancer, and another for not immediately notifying residents.
City leaders say the water plant that had elevated levels of radium was taken out of service and another sample was sent for testing. It came back negative for radium. City officials claim the first test was not accurate and the drinking water is safe.
By law, the city has 30 days to notify residents when something like this happens. City officials say they expected results from the second test to come back before the 30-day deadline. But it didn’t. The city’s water system operator says state health department officials recommended they wait to send a letter until the second set of test results came back, in an effort to avoid panic in the community.
But we talked with someone from the state, who told us they would not tell a city to wait until other tests are conducted.
The city of OB sent the letter to residents July 24th, the day the state issued the second violation. Olive Branch residents say they’re upset that they weren’t contacted right away.
“If they’re not forthright about the results or even if they’re just waiting on results, any type of information is better than what’s stirring up on social media,” says Jan Courtney.
The City of Olive Branch tests for radium every 5 to 8 years. Because of the elevated levels found in April, it’s now required to test its water for radium every three months for next six months before it can go back to regular testing.
Olive Branch sent us this email, which they say they received from the state:
I spoke to Devin this morning and I think that the most responsible thing to do for the public and the system is to wait until we get the results from the samples that were taken in May before sending out the public notice. If we do not get the results in time to have public notice done within the thirty day window, you will receive a public notice violation that goes away when public notice is given. The only place that it would be seen is on drinking water watch, and our computer system. If that happens I will notate that we City of Olive Branch and the Health Dept thought it best to wait for the results to give a more accurate and complete picture to the public. I am also taking into consideration that the city is not running the wells in question so the customers are not being exposed to the water at this time.
If you have any questions please let me know.
Thomas “Chip” Long
Mississippi State Dept. of Health
Water Supply
601-576-7521
