Lincoln Co. Residents With High Arsenic Levels In Water Hoping For State Help

LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C. – There’s a new push to help neighbors dealing with serious water quality issues in Lincoln County.

Testing found much higher than normal levels of arsenic in well water at homes off Laboratory Road.

While arsenic can be naturally occurring, there’s also concern because the area was the site of a lithium mine in the 1950’s.

Abby Hollis and her family moved to a home off Laboratory Road in 2007.

Three years later, at a friend’s suggestion, they decided to test their well water for arsenic.

They found the 0.3 result is well above the EPA allowable limit of 0.01.

Since then, tests have shown other neighbors’ well water is also impacted.

Last week, Lincoln County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution seeking grant funding from the state to extend the county water line, so Hollis and about two dozen other neighbors can move off of well water.

County leaders say the $800,000 to $1 million expense is too much to absorb on their own.

“It was just terrifying that we had been exposed to this, and that we don’t know the effects, because many times the effects are long-term, you might not know until many years out,” Hollis says.

Researchers from Duke University have been testing wells again in the neighborhood.

If they’re able to prove the arsenic was caused by the old lithium mine, other funding options could open up.

We’re told it will be February when neighbors will find out if the grant from the state is approved.