FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is expanding its investigation of contaminated water in Franklin County. The investigation comes after water in 18 homes in the Coopers Cove neighborhood tested positive for a chemical often found in gasoline, known as MTBE.
Part one of our Target 7 investigation revealed leaking underground storage tanks caused the contaminated drinking water. The DEQ is looking for other underground storage tanks or potential other sources nearby that could also be a factor for the contaminated water.
The Coopers Cove contaminated water incident was not the first time the DEQ has removed a leaking tank. The case in Franklin County was one of nearly 1,000 cases the DEQ investigated from March 2023 to March 2024.
The DEQ discovered three underground storage tanks (USTs) in the Coopers Cove neighborhood were leaking, contaminating the drinking water for 18 homes. The USTs were buried in the late 1970′s, before Virginia DEQ put regulations in place.
Nearly 18,000 active USTs in the state are registered and inspected for compliance every year. But it’s difficult for the state to manage the tanks that were placed before the regulations went into effect in the late 1980′s.
A spokesperson with the DEQ explained some homeowners may not even know they have a UST.
“I know it’s absolutely fallen out of fashion,” Irina Calos said. “That’s really one of the issues that when it’s something that needs to be maintained, if people don’t know about it, they’re not going to maintain it.”
There have been more than 49,000 cases of UST releases in Virginia since 1973. Calos explained oil leaks impact multiple Virginia households one to three times a year.
“Oil doesn’t belong in water, petroleum doesn’t belong in water,” Calos said. “It’s not something any of us should be drinking.”
The DEQ has now added markers to the former UST location sites in Franklin County to continue to monitor petroleum levels in the earth. The department also monitors UST facilities.
In the 2023 Tank Summary Report, only 46% of facilities met the Technical Compliance Rate for Spill Prevention, Overfill Prevention, Corrosion Protection, and Release Detection.
Calos explained the department has a tank program for UST owners.
“We have a fund to help clean up incidents like [Franklin County],” Calos said. “It’s not just your drinking water that could be affected. It could be your neighbors, it could be your streams. It’s in all of our best interest to make sure that that potential contamination is addressed.”
Any potential leaks should be reported to the DEQ within 24 hours. UST owners can tell if there is a leak by noticing a sudden drop in fuel levels or if there is unexplained water in the tank.
As for the oil release in Franklin County, those tanks have been removed and residents have a filtration system to make the water safe to drink.
You can find part one of our investigation here.
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