PRESTON – Chenango County Social Services Commissioner Bette Osborne is requesting an engineering consultant to develop a filtration system that would treat the high levels of arsenic found in the water supply to Chenango County’s Preston Manor nursing home.

Arsenic, a naturally occurring substance linked to cancer, was found at levels ranging from 30 to 40 parts per billion in drinking water at the home. Those levels would have been acceptable prior to 2007 when the federal Environmental Protection Agency threshold limits were 50. Today, the EPA allows only 10 ppb.

Bottled water is currently being supplied to Preston Manor residents.

The ballpark estimate for mediating the toxin to acceptable levels is estimated to be $58,000, and not only does Osborne not have the full amount in her budget, but the fix would involve technology with which local experts are unfamiliar, she said.