Georgetown, DE, Oct. 26, 2005 – The Delaware National Guard, at the request of the Sussex County Emergency Operations Center and the town of Dagsboro, has begun trucking in hundreds of gallons of fresh drinking water for residents whose public water recently showed high levels of an industrial contaminant.

The National Guard this morning, Wednesday, Oct. 26, delivered a 400-gallon tanker to the Dagsboro Fire Company on Waples Street in Dagsboro. There, customers of the town’s public water system will be free to pick up, at their own leisure, clean drinking water.

Two more tankers – another 400-gallon unit, and a 5,000-gallon tanker – are being readied for delivery later in the day, according to Sussex County Emergency Operations Director Joseph Thomas.

The tankers will be self-service, and residents must bring their own bottles to fill. While residents are encouraged to get whatever amount of water they need, officials are asking people, out of courtesy to others, to limit how much they collect on each visit.

Thomas said the National Guard plans to monitor the tankers to ensure a steady flow of available drinking water in the days to come.

Dagsboro Mayor S. Bradley Connor on Tuesday, Oct. 25, requested that the county lend its assistance and help coordinate the delivery of the drinking water, this after the contaminant trichloroethylene was found as much as 14 times above the federal limit in the town’s water supply.

The affected public water in Dagsboro is piped from nearby Millsboro, which also is experiencing the high levels of trichloroethylene. State health officials have advised customers using the public water in both towns to avoid drinking it and to limit its use in baths or showers.

Trichloroethylene is a colorless liquid that can cause numerous short- and long-term effects, from headaches and loss of concentration to nausea and liver damage, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

County Administrator Robert L. Stickels and EOC Director Thomas, with the help of State Rep. John Atkins and Sen. George H. Bunting, made calls to state leaders and the National Guard on behalf of Dagsboro to request the water’s delivery.

National Guard officials notified the county this morning that two 400-gallon tankers, known as “water buffalos,” would be shipped to Dagsboro today. Officials also were trying to arrange delivery of the larger 5,000-gallon tanker to Dagsboro.

“We are pleased to be able to help the town in this effort,” Mr. Stickels said. “Furthermore, I’m pleased with the assistance and timely response from our state government. It’s important that this water be made available for the public as quickly as possible, and I urge people to make use of it.

“Obviously, there are questions about how safe the public water supply is in Millsboro and Dagsboro right now,” Mr. Stickels added. “So, again, I urge people to use the supply of water being shipped in, if for no other reason than to err on the side of caution.”