Orange County NC Website
<br />cancer registry study were compared with rates found across North Carolina and the Health <br />Department study. Out of the 133 households, surveys were completed for 86 households, <br />19°~ were reached but declined participation in the survey, and 19% of the households were not <br />reached at all. In the 86 households surveyed, there were 198 persons that were represented. <br />They found 29 cases of cancer and 14 different types. Twenty-eight people of the surveyed <br />population reported a cancer diagnosis, and one person reported two different types of cancer. <br />Fifteen of the people are deceased, 11 are in remission, and two currently have cancer. <br />The cancer registry study area is quite a bit larger because they use census blocks. The <br />study showed that, except for melanoma, Orange County overall rates are generally the same <br />as the state rates and below the state rate for lung cancer. <br />The Health Department study was apaint-in-time study and did not take into account <br />former residents in the area. The survey overall yielded a 65°~ completion rate, which is high. <br />However, they were unable to verify the cancer diagnoses either through medical records or <br />other official means. <br />Given the data, the cancer assessment conclusions are that this is not a cancer cluster <br />area and that no further study is indicated. <br />The second part of the study was the water quality assessment. All households in the <br />study area were offered the opportunity to complete an application far a water assessment and <br />an air radon assessment. Only households that returned a completed application were included <br />in the sampling process. One hundred applications were returned. Only environmental health <br />specialists were involved in the samples. The samples showed that this area is experiencing <br />bacteriological contamination at about the same level as the rest of the County, which is about <br />30°~. The households that showed problems of this type have received instructions on how to <br />do a chlorination of the well to enable the bacteria to come to lower levels. The next parameter <br />was inorganic, which is iron. Thirty percent of the wells in the study area had elevated iron <br />while 47°~ of the wells overall in the County have elevated iron. The next area is arsenic. Mill <br />Creek is actually better off than the rest of the County for arsenic. Five percent of the wells <br />have levels above the .001 level and 14°~ of Orange County wells overall show this same level. <br />Manganese levels above .05 milligrams per liter can turn well water black ar brawn and stains <br />plumbing fixtures. There are no health risks associated with it. Ten percent of the Mill Creek <br />households had elevated levels and 27% of the wells overall in Orange County experience high <br />levels. Regarding the pH level, 14% of the households have acidic water. Regarding radon, the <br />number of households experiencing elevated levels of radon was about the same as the rest of <br />the County, which is about 30°~. Radon is more of a concern in air than in water. There were <br />no elevated radon in air levels indicated in the study area. Only a third of the homes were <br />tested for radon in air because it took two site visits and community members were not available <br />to have this done. <br />Reports and recommendations when received were sent to well owners. They are in the <br />process of offering limited camera services to follow up on certain owners that had particular <br />problems with their wells to help them diagnose the problem. Follow up sampling and <br />consultation were offered and some people took advantage of this. <br />They did not identify any long-term health risks from the water study. The ground water <br />appears very typical for Orange County. There are some aesthetic issues, though. <br />Commissioner Halkiotis asked what constitutes an old well and Rosemary Summers <br />said anything before 1980. Commissioner Halkiatis said that he has talked with people with <br />wells from 1950. He said that a lot of people were drilling wells back then and it was an <br />unregulated industry. Rosemary Summers said that the Board of Health in 2003 instituted an <br />extra depth of casing on wells because they found that wells that were more shallow than 50 <br />feet had higher levels of bacteriological contamination. They have learned a lot through the <br />years. <br />