Residents of some parts of Seminole County may have for decades been drinking contaminated water that could cause cancer, according to an article published Wednesday by the Orlando Sentinel. The newspaper reported that the industrial chemical 1,4-dioxane, which can cause liver and kidney cancer, has been detected underground in the Floridan Aquifer, the region's source of drinking water. Cities in the area have taken various steps to reduce the effect: Lake Mary officials opened a treatment plant two years ago to remove nearly all of the chemical from its water, while Seminole County and the city of Sanford reduced concentrations by closing the most contaminated wells. Local officials say they don't know, however, how far back and at what concentrations the contaminant was in the local drinking water prior to its detection a decade ago by federal officials or prior to its documentation at one local site in 2001. The contamination has been linked to a long-closed General Dynamics plant. Orlando Sentinel
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