NORTH POLE, AK — Residents and business owners, grappling with how a chemical used to make fuel entered their city water supply and private well water, learned during a November 23 public meeting that the contamination stems from a sulfolane spill in the year 2000 at the Flint Hills Resources oil refinery, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported November 24.

The city of North Pole was forced to shut down one of its two drinking water wells after it found trace levels of the contaminant in its supply, as WaterTech Online® reported.

Residents who rely on now-contaminated private wells for drinking have made the switch to bottled water, as have some residents and businesses that receive publicly supplied water. Tracy Harmon, a restaurant manager whose family is on the public water system, said in the story that his family has switched to bottled water, despite the city’s assurance that its supply now is safe.

Sulfolane is not a regulated drinking water contaminant and “some uncertainty exists about the health risks posed by the chemical,” according to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).

According to the DEC’s Cindy Christian, the chemical bonds easily with water, which is how the spilled chemical leached into the water table near the refinery, contaminating supplies.

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