The City of Devine will have a doctor as a guest speaker at the next City of Devine Council Meeting on June 20, 2017, scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in the City of Devine Council Chambers.
He will be addressing the asbestos situation with the water lines, and will be able to answer any citizen’s questions and/or concerns.
Many citizens may recognize the speaker, Dr. Richard Neel, who is a familiar face at Little Alsace Urgent Care Clinic in Castroville.
A retired Air Force doctor, Dr. Neel got his Master’s Degree in Public Health at Harvard University in Occupational and Environmental medicine.
“I studied about asbestos along with a lot of other environmental hazards. I did have a special interest in asbestos as my father had asbestos since serving in the Navy in WWII,” Neel said. “There is lots to know about asbestos, and there is still a lot of controversy. There are different kinds of asbestos and some are more dangerous than others. It was common in a lot of products for a long time. It used to be common place in science labs at school and even in talcum powder and play sand.”
Back in May a meeting held in Devine where several citizens voiced concerns.
The EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) for asbestos in drinking water is seven million fibers per liter (MFL), based on a municipality’s running annual average (RAA). The following numbers were reported:
1st quarter of 2016: The City of Devine’s water supply measured 14 MFL for ASB-01 in the first quarter of 2016.
2nd quarter of 2016:
•17 MFL ASB-01,
•11 MFL for ASB-02,
•10 MFL for ASB-03
3rd quarter of 2016:
•18 MFL for ASB-01,
• 13 MFL for ASB-02,
•10 MFL for ASB-03
Asbestos pipes are still used to pump water from wells into town, and some asbestos pipes inside City limits.