JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Homeowners in a Southside neighborhood are blaming the JEA for contaminating the groundwater with potentially hazardous chemicals.

Woody Wilner, an attorney who is representing several homeowners in the San Souci area, said Tuesday that a spill of a potentially carcinogenic degreasing agent at the JEA's Hogan Road electric substation in the 1970s contaminated water in the area.

"We feel like the JEA has misled us, they have lied to us," resident Geraldine Johnson said. "I just wonder how many people have to be sick and die before JEA acknowledges their responsibility."

Homeowners were hooked up to city water, which is safe, but they were never told not to use their well water to water their lawns, wash their cars and for other things.

"We believe that this contamination still exists in the area and poses a danger to residents," Wilner said.

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Residents: Utility Never Warned About Well Water

The JEA told Channel 4 "they have been put on notice of an issue," and referred comment to the city's attorneys. JEA employees were seen testing water in the area Tuesday morning.

The degreasing agent, one of many Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids, form a class of industrial chemicals that were commonly used through the 1980s. If allowed to remain on the ground, DNAPLs dissolve and can contaminate soil and groundwater for years.

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Interagency Dense Non Aqueous Phase Liquid (DNAPL) Consortium