Fairfield Hills Water Tank Vandalism

Prompts Contamination Fears

By Andrew Gorosko

State police are investigating an intentional breach of a public water supply storage tank at Fairfield Hills that was discovered last weekend.

The incident resulted in precautionary steps being taken in the event the water supply, serving more than 1,000 people, was intentionally contaminated by vandals.

Testing on water samples, however, indicated no water contamination problem.  There have been no reports of illness among people who used the water. After the problem was discovered, authorities told water system users to drink bottled water as a precaution.   

Late Thursday morning, the state Health Department informed water system users it was all right to resume normal water use.

State police spokesman Lieutenant Ralph Carpenter said Wednesday that at 12:38 pm Monday state police responded to a report of vandalism at the two large water storage tanks that sit atop a hill overlooking Fairfield Hills, Garner Correctional Institution, and Nunnawauk Meadows. The two 500,000-gallon tanks hold drinking water for those facilities. The storage tanks are in an area posted as off-limits to the public.

State police, who spent several hours investigating at the scene, assigned the Western District Major Crime Squad to the case, Lt Carpenter said.  The lieutenant declined to disclose specifics of the investigation or to say whether there are suspects in the case.

Newtown Health Director Mark Cooper said the vandalism sparked concern that the water supply system may have been contaminated by vandals. A lock had been cut from a metal lid on a water storage tank and the lid had been removed, prompting authorities to wonder whether contaminants had been placed within the tank, he said.  The two oblong tanks sit in the ground in an isolated area atop the hill. Turf embankments surround the tanks.

“Apparently, over the weekend, someone broke into the water storage tank. There was some concern,” Mr Cooper said.

 

Prank Or Sabotage?

It is unclear if the vandalism was a youthful prank or was the act of someone seeking to create havoc, Mr Cooper said. Cutting the lock off the tank lid required a specialized tool.

“The timing was such that everyone was on heightened awareness,” he said.   

“The situation was handled very well,” Mr Cooper said, adding that everyone involved did what they needed to do in view of the prevalent heightened fear of terrorism and sabotage when the year changed from 1999 to 2000.

 Mr Cooper said that after learning of possible water contamination problems from Tunxis Management Company, he posted signs Monday morning stating that  people should not to drink tap water at the town offices in Canaan House at Fairfield Hills. He said he removed those signs Wednesday after water tests indicated there were no contamination problems. The water system also serves Greenwich House at Fairfield Hills, which houses about 100 patients in a substance abuse treatment program.

“There is no longer a concern on the quality of water in the water system,” Mr Cooper said.

After the vandalism was discovered, the water system was super-chlorinated, drained and flushed.

United Water diverted water from its water supply system, which serves central Newtown, to the Fairfield Hills water system as a safety precaution, Mr Cooper said. United Water operates the Fairfield Hills water system.

“We were involved in some activities which were precautionary in nature. It was just precautionary,” said Kevin Moran, United Water manager. Mr Moran referred questions on the matter to Tunxis Management, the firm which manages Fairfield Hills for the state Department of Public Works (DPW).

Pinkerton Security, the firm that provides security services at Fairfield Hills, declined comment on the matter, referring questions to Tunxis Management.

“Unfortunately, I cannot comment,” said Peter Donahue of Tunxis Management.

 

DPW

DPW spokesman Kevin Dempsey said authorities may never learn what happened at the water storage tanks. “What was done, we don’t know. I don’t know if we’ll ever know,” he said.

All water system users received bottled water after the problem was discovered and were advised not to use water from the water system, Mr Dempsey said.

DPW will continue to monitor the situation and will consider increasing security measures to prevent such incidents from occurring again, he said.

Dr Gerald Iwan, chief of water supplies for the state health department, said extensive testing was done on the Fairfield Hills water after the breached tank was discovered. “We found no indication of any contamination whatsoever,” he said.

Until the results of all water tests had indicated that the water was safe to drink, the state health department recommended that water system users drink bottled water.

 State Department of Correction (DOC) spokeswoman Christina Polce said that after learning of the contamination scare Monday, the DOC provided bottled drinking water for Garner Correctional Institution inmates. The water situation created no sickness or behavioral problems among inmates, she said.