Traci M.
Professor Donna Reiss
English 111-77D
December 10, 2001

 Keeping Secrets Cost the Unborn Lives of Hundreds

Can you imagine the joy of starting a family?  Now try to imagine it coming to an end.  I am currently pregnant and could not begin to imagine losing my child especially based on the decision of others.  Chesapeake city leaders, with the approval of state health regulators, decided the fate of many in 1998 due to not informing pregnant woman of the risks of drinking the water.   City officials should have informed pregnant woman of the risks involved with high levels of THM and due to their negligence many innocent lives were lost.

In 1995, the city of Chesapeake had a design in progress for a new $75 million dollar water treatment plan.  This plan was to purify the city's brackish water, which had a salty taste and a strong odor.  City officials and state regulators decided that two treatment towers would be removed about nine months before the new filters would be operative.  This was designed to save the city money, but would also send the levels of THM (Trihalomethane) skyrocketing due to the fact that these two particular towers were the city's main defense against THM.  At the same time the city was racing to meet new federal THM limits set earlier in Nov 1983.  Water systems were required to maintain a annual average of 100 parts per billion or less.

In a website called "Trihalomethanes and Our Water Supply," trihalomethane is defined as an organic chemical compound that is created when chlorine mixes with organic materials, such as leaves and algae, in open-air water sources.  Chlorine is used to disinfect water supplies. 

According to article written by Jennifer Peter of the Virginia Pilot, in 1997 the California Department of Health Services conducted a study that concluded there is an increased risk of miscarriage when a water system has a quarterly THM average greater than 74 parts per billion.  This same study showed that a pregnant woman who drank 5 or more glasses of high-THM water during her first trimester were twice as likely to miscarry.  Previous studies also linked THM to miscarriages and other reproductive problems, such as spinal defects and growth retardation, but this study was the most definitive to date. The state health department informed the city of the study in November 1997. 

Jennifer Peter is also quoted as saying in a recent article in the Virginian- Pilot that on Feb 10, 1998 the results of the study broke in the Los Angeles Times and a copy was faxed to the city of Chesapeake.  Chesapeake’s Deputy Chief Manager Clarence V. Cuffee informed the City Council immediately about the possible high THM level being a link to miscarriages.  He then wrote a memo and emphasized that the city did meet federal THM standards and that the new plant, once completed, would reduce the levels even further.  His memo also failed to disclose the fact that the following day the two primary towers to maintain THM levels were to be torn down.  Amar Dwarkanath, the city's public utilities director, is quoted as saying, "The plant was about three or four months behind schedule and those towers had to come down."  The following day the towers were torn down and the impact was immediate.  On Feb 6, 1998 the water leaving the plant registered a THM level of 67.5 parts per billion.  The average level of THM through the end of 1998 was 138 parts per billion. 

The fact is that the city knew of the results, but continued as planned with no warning to the many people at risk and their unborn children.

City records show that in July 1998 the city was forced to issue an official public notification as a condition of receiving the state's approval of the THM waiver.  The waiver was so the city could be exempt from high levels of THM until the new water treatment facility was in working order. The notice was sent to the customers with their bills, but did not mention the risk of miscarriage.  Daniel B. Horne, the regional water regulator, pointed out that due to the waiver the city never violated the federal THM standard.  For this reason, he believes that warning pregnant women of this potential danger was unnecessary.

In the summer of 2000 Joynes & Gaidies Law Group and Willcox & Salvage jointly aired television promotions seeking Chesapeake women who had recently had miscarriages.  Over 400 women came forward, including Ana Garcia Pruitt, Wendy Leigh Trotter, Julie Collier Schuller, Shannon K. Ward, Autumn M. Ulrich, Kimberly R. Reid, and Renee Washing.  Each of the seven women lived in Chesapeake in 1997 or 1998 and saw each of their pregnancies end in miscarriage or serious birth defects.  These are just a few of the many women who went on to file a suit against the city of Chesapeake and the outcome still pending.

This horrible pattern of secrecy continued this year when other local city’s other water systems, Western Branch and South Norfolk, both had quarterly and annual averages higher than the level deemed safe by the California study.  Jennifer Peter says, “South Norfolk had a quarterly average of 137 in July and an annual average of 101.  Western Branch had a quarterly average of 138 in August and an annual average of 83.”  Despite the fact that these city’s officials had knowledge of the risk and of the study results they failed to inform pregnant women living in these cities of the high levels and the risks involved.  

The city of Chesapeake stands by its decisions and supports these decisions with their views of the facts.  According to an article by Lou Misselhorn in the Virginia Pilot Lou says:

The city officials are using the statistics of reported miscarriages to support their case that the numbers did not increase.  The national miscarriage rate is about 10 percent according to experts and the causes are widespread.  Most of these miscarriages happen in the first 12 weeks of conception.  Because of these facts, many doctors agree, it would be impossible to trace any one miscarriage back to THM. 

The city officials are also using the fact that they were not in violation of city laws and thus did not have to legally inform the public.  The city feels they did what was in the best interest of the city without causing a great deal of unneeded commotion.

Dr. Michael Sexton, chief resident OB/GYN doctor at Portsmouth Medical Hospital, has strong feeling about Chesapeake using the reported miscarriages rate to prove anything.  He explained that when a woman has a miscarriage the doctor, or hospital, is supposed to report it, but this does not always happen.  In addition, some women do not seek medical attention or may even not know that they miscarried.

This just goes to show that what we see and hear is not always what we get.  There are lives of innocent people at risk and I hope we all take a stand to make sure we are properly informed.  City officials should have informed pregnant woman of the risks involved with high levels of THM and due to their negligence many innocent lives were lost.

Works Cited

Capece, John Ph.D. "Trihalomethanes and Our Water Supply." 20 March 2001. http://www.southerndatastream.com/thm.index.htm. 

Misselhorn, Lou. "Lawyers argue city not to blame for miscarriages." Virginian-Pilot. 10 October 2001. http://www.pilotonline.com/news/nw101ohea.html.

Peter, Jennifer. "Something in the Water: Chesapeake takes a calculated risk." Virginian-Pilot .12 February 2001. http://www.pilotonline.com/special/thm/. 

Sexton, Michael Ph. D. Chief Resident at Portsmouth Medical Hospital, Portsmouth, Virginia. Interview. 9 November 2001.

My English 111 Web | updated 12 Dec 2001