In March 2004, a resident of Cornville contacted the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to request information on arsenic in drinking water. The resident collected six well water samples from their own well and neighbors’ wells and submitted them to a private laboratory for arsenic analysis. The analyses detected arsenic ranging from 15 to 952 μg/L. ADEQ and the community members asked the Arizona Department of Health Services to provide health information about using the water. Initial conversations with the well owner and other community members revealed that many people had concerns about potential health effects from arsenic exposure.

The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and the California Department of Toxic Substance Control worked together to assess background levels of naturally occurring metals in groundwater wells at Topock and Golden Shores, Arizona. The communities expressed concerns regarding the findings, thus the ADEQ requested the Arizona Department of Health Services to evaluate whether these naturally occurring metals in groundwater wells are present at levels that may cause adverse health effects.