Satellite Beach says it plans 2nd round of groundwater tests

SATELLITE BEACH, Fla. — City of Satellite Beach officials said Monday that they haven't finished testing the city's ground water.

The city said levels of two harmful chemicals found in a first round of testing were considered safe, but the city manager said a second round of tests are being planned.

The first round of testing was conducted quickly, because the city said it wanted to get residents answers as quickly as it could.

The next round of testing will take a much slower, controlled approach to find anything that might explain why so many in the area have developed cancer.

"This is not something that's a fluke or anything," said Karen Szewczyk, a cancer survivor. "It's something that's really happening to people."

Szewczyk, who she grew up in the area and spent summers as a lifeguard at Patrick Air Force Base, said she was blown away by what she learned at a meeting Sunday about harmful chemicals in the area's groundwater.

"They can stay in the ground for 27 years, and that was shocking to me," she said.

Last month, Szewczyk told Channel 9 about her concerns that possible water contamination might have led to her 2017 battle with a rare breast cancer and a rare colon cancer that took her mother's life a year earlier.

Szewczyk's case is one of more than 50 involving graduates of Satellite High School investigated by Dr. Julie Greenwalt, an oncologist who survived cancer and who graduated from the school.

Greenwalt told Channel 9 on Sunday that the city's decision to continue testing is important to her.

"A lot of the EPA research and a lot of the data that is coming out is just PFOA and PFOS," she said. "Some of these other chemicals that have tested positive, we're still ... researching."

Szewczyk said she doesn't like to see the presence of harmful chemicals no matter how low the level.

"I don't want to see it at all," she said. "My father still lives there. I don't want any parents or children of the future having to go through this."

The city manager said he is still trying to determine what other chemicals to test for and whether to test additional wells.

The school district said tests found very low amounts of a potentially cancer-causing chemical in nine of the 13 schools tested in the county.

The results from Satellite High School had the highest level of the chemical.

The district said it plans to retest the school's water.

Cox Media Group