ANDREWS, Ind. (WFFT) - Trichloroethylene or TCE has been proven by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to be linked with several different cancers and chronic diseases.
This chemical is in the water supply in the small town of Andrews in Huntington County.
The people who live there haven't had clean water in decades because of it.
It's been 30 years ever since the residents were first told that the water was unsafe to drink.
Fox 55 spoke with 82-year-old Raymond Tackett who has lived in Andrews for over 60 years.
He says the water contamination has been the cause of years of health issues, pain, and suffering.
Tackett goes to the grocery store twice a week to buy two cases of water; this is how he and his wife, Pam, have survived for the last 25 years.
"All we use the Andrews water for is to take a shower," said Tackett.
He suffers from stage three liver disease, multiple tumors, diabetes, and inflammation in his lungs.
With his poor health, two cases are all he can carry which means multiple trips to the Huntington Kroger every week.
"Getting it in the house, I have to rely on somebody to carry it all in for me. It takes a terrific toll on you. Your mind tells you, you can do something but your body won't let it do it," said Tackett.
Like everything else, water prices have gone up since the pandemic.
"Three times a week. Two cases. Two cases are $11.90 so, or $32 or $33 bucks a week," said Tackett.
His average water bill is about $120 a month for two people.
"I'm paying the water bill every month for something I can't use, it's got poison in it," said Tackett.
This means he spends an average of $132 a month on bottled water and another $120 on the town water bill, costing him an average of $250 a month in water for a two-person household.
Not only has surviving off bottled water caused them to suffer mentally, physically, and emotionally but the Tacketts believe their health issues are a direct result of years of drinking the contaminated water before they found out what was in it.
"I have stage three kidney disease and it's almost at stage four and I feel like if I hadn't quit drinking this water, I would be dead with the rest of my friends down here at the Andrews cemetery," said Tackett.
His wife, Pam, has a long history of health issues as well.
"She had breast cancer in 2005. I believe that's a direct cause of the water that she had used and drank over the years," said Tackett.
The Andrews water crisis began in a former car part factory after the company allegedly dumped TCE into the groundwater, contaminating the wells.
Tackett knows this plant all too well, he worked there for over 30 years and handled toxic TCE, every day.
"Trichloroethylene was a degreaser that you cleaned parts with that came off the screw machines," said Tackett.
He claims TCE has been in the water since the 1960s.
"In the mid-60s, somewhere around that time, we had a big tank sitting outside and it split. It was filled with trichloroethylene, and it ran out on the ground and we knew later it got in the water system. No one paid any attention at that time," said Tackett.
That means Andrews residents were drinking and cooking with this water for almost thirty years before they were aware of the contamination.
"1992, I think, was when we really got aware of the trichlor being in the water," said Tackett.
He says even if a solution for the water crisis comes to light, there will be no escaping the cancer-causing chemical.
"It's not going to change the trichlor in the ground where the fumes are at, where you plant your garden. It's not going to change that. People need to accept that we're always going to have it," said Tackett.
He says living off bottled water has become a way of life for him. His biggest worry is having to rely on other people to go to Huntington and get the water for him as his health continues to decline.
Have a story you want FOX 55 to cover or a news tip? Send an email to news@wfft.com.
