CORRECTION

A story in the City & State section Tuesday on Durham's failure to test its water for volatile organic compounds incorrectly said state regulators didn't know how many such violations there were in 2006. There were 49, including two issued to Durham for failing to test water from either of its water plants.

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DURHAM -- City water wasn't tested for volatile organic compounds last year because the samples kept getting misplaced, deputy city manager Ted Voorhees said Monday.

Durham officials issued a news release late Friday afternoon stating that the city had been cited by state regulators for failing to test the water for 21 carbon chemicals that can cause, among other things, headaches, nausea and eye irritation.

Voorhees explained Monday that the samples taken from Durham's two water plants were never picked up by Tritest Inc., the private laboratory the city hired to test for the compounds.

He said the samples were left at the water management department for the lab to retrieve but then were moved to the floor by an employee.

"This whole series of where [the samples] were and who should have picked them up dragged on for a few weeks until the year expired," Voorhees said.

"Frankly, I haven't gotten into the specifics of exactly where they were as much as telling the department that we need to have it very clear exactly where the samples are ... "

Tests on samples from 2006 and 2007 found no volatile compounds, same as the results from the previous five years.

"I hope that puts the issue to bed as far as the actual water quality," Voorhees said.

There is no fine for the violation.

Laura Leonard, spokeswoman for the state's Division of Environmental Health, said officials don't know how many other water systems have failed to test for the compounds.

Durham's water has been under scrutiny from state and federal regulators since spring, when the county Health Department determined that a child younger than 6 had been poisoned by lead from drinking tainted tap water. The identity of the child and the extent of the poisoning have not been disclosed.

In December, The News & Observer reported that the city had withheld key results from its lead testing.