La Plata water test had high bacteria

Agency late in reporting results to town

Friday, Nov. 13, 2009

On Sept. 9, 10 water samples taken by the Maryland Environmental Service at two town businesses showed elevated levels of coliform bacteria. The town did not learn of the results until Nov. 6.

The council learned of the violations during its regular work session Tuesday evening at town hall. Mayor Roy Hale asked Daniel Mears, town manager, why a notice was not posted earlier on the town's Web site to inform the public.

"We take this very seriously," Hale said Tuesday. "It's a major concern when something like this occurs. We need to put this type of information out there for our residents right away."

The posting appeared under the "announcements" section of the Web site Tuesday, said Robert Stahl Jr., the town's director of operations, adding the information had to be posted because the town has incurred two water quality violations this year. The other violation occurred in June when not all of the routine water testing that must be performed every month was done, he said.

The samples, taken during a routine monthly testing, were obtained from the Sunoco gas station at U.S. 301 and Route 6 and at Walmart.

Because two samples tested positive for the bacteria, the Maryland Department of the Environment had to be notified, which resulted in a violation being issued by the state, Stahl said.

Stahl said he was notified of the elevated bacteria levels in the samples Nov. 6. The MES — the agency that oversees the operation of the town's water system and wastewater treatment plant — informed the state about the samples Sept. 11, said Jay Janney, MES' environmental specialist.

Stahl said he does not yet know if the September violation will result in the town paying a fine.

Since the samples were positive for total coliform bacteria, new samples were drawn Sept. 11 at the two sites, Janney said Thursday, adding those samples and subsequent tests were negative for the bacteria.

The company should have notified the town right away about the results of the September tests, Janney said.

"We will make sure in the future that the town is notified; we'll make better strides to make sure that the council is aware if there are any positive test results," he said.

More town oversight will be given to the sampling process since the testing slipup occurred, Stahl said.

"We want to stay on top of these types of things," he said. "I was somewhat upset when [September's samples] weren't brought to my attention immediately. We have really made great strides with the town's water system. It's in excellent condition. This type of problem causes us public relation issues. This is something that I'm going to be much more on top of. I want to be notified immediately in the future if this happens again."

Samples are taken monthly from taps in various buildings in town to test for the bacteria, including bathrooms in gas stations and public places such as the Charles County Public Library on Garrett Avenue, Stahl said.

"Once a sample is positive you've got to go back and test it again," he said, adding total coliform bacteria is an indicator of a possible contamination of the water. The samples did not contain fecal bacteria or any organism that would be hazardous to human health, he added.

"A lot of times when they take the samples they touch the cap or lid [of the test container] or the faucet and that can cause a test to come back positive," he said, adding that only cold water is tested. "In a lot of cases they test taps that are in bathrooms in gas stations. You have to have a separate tap for the cold water to take a sample. In some cases I'm not sure that they are actually following that protocol."

People should not be overly concerned about the positive samples, Stahl said, adding "it's a very prolific bacteria and it shows up on a lot of things."

Coliforms are bacteria that are naturally present in the environment and are used as an indicator that other potentially harmful bacteria might be present, Janney said. Normally, the presence of coliforms is a warning sign that there might be a problem with a jurisdiction's treatment or distribution systems, he said.

The town checked the distribution system at the plant and found no problems, Janney said, adding that chlorine levels were within acceptable ranges.

No residents reported any illnesses or problems from drinking the water from the affected test sites, according to local health officials.

"People are freaking out anyway because of the swine flu outbreak," said Ward 2 Councilman C. Keith Back. "Now people are upset because they think that they can't drink the water … If they [MES] find a problem with the water system they need to tell us right away."

"This is not a serious health issue but it's certainly a black eye on the town, which is unfortunate since we've made such great improvements to the system," said Ward 4 Councilman Joe Norris.

The council decided during the meeting to send a letter to MES that states their concern about the town not being notified quickly about the positive water samples.

"The town takes this matter very seriously and we will be working with MES and the state to ensure that subsequent violations won't occur," Hale said. "The town has made substantial improvements to the water system, and it's unfortunate that routine procedures weren't performed that may lead to unfounded worries for our residents. That's why the council felt it was important to place information on the town's Web site to assure our residents that our water is safe to drink."

nmcconaty@somdnews.com