Sanford pushes for $60M in federal funds to address ‘forever chemical’ in drinking water

SANFORD – The city is reassuring the community that the water is safe to drink following the discovery of “forever chemical” that’s been linked to health issues found in a portion of the city’s water.

City officials found the chemical, called 1,4 dioxane in 2013, but the amount in the water is at a very safe level.

However, the city isn’t taking chances since they don’t even know what the source of the chemical is at this point.

The city put out a statement Wednesday with the headline “the city’s water is safe,” and went out to talk about issues discovered over the course of time with regard to certain pollutants found, but the release never said what those pollutants were.

Attorney Jake Varn said 1,4 dioxane is a chemical that the city has been dealing with since 2013, but maintains that the water is safe.

Sanford has applied for $60 million in federal grant money for similar equipment to keep the chemical at bay.