Date: Fri 08-Sep-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: KAAREN

Quick Words:

Insilco-Appleblossom-pollution

Full Text:

Town To Supply Water To Homes With Contaminated Wells

B Y K AAREN V ALENTA

Unable to pinpoint the source of pollutants which have contaminated the wells

of as many as 26 homes in the Appleblossom Lane area, the state Department of

Environmental Protection has reached an agreement with the town to supply the

homes with potable water while looking for a solution to the problem.

On Wednesday evening the Legislative Council approved a motion to direct the

Board of Selectmen to call a town meeting "if necessary" on an emergency

$500,000 appropriation to supply water to these homes and to conduct a

hydrogeologic survey to find the source of the pollution. First Selectman Bob

Cascella said the $500,000 actually will be paid through a state grant, not by

the town, but the appropriation may be needed if the town has to pay the bills

before submitting them to the state for reimbursement.

Last week the Board of Selectmen approved the special appropriation to comply

with a consent order issued on August 23 by the DEP.

The consent order lists 11 houses on Appleblossom Lane, 5 on Dogwood Terrace,

4 on Prospect Drive and 3 on South Main Street as having contaminated wells.

But Mark Cooper, director of the Newtown Health District, said there may be as

many as 26 houses affected because some share wells.

In ordering the town to supply safe water to those houses, the DEP said the

extent of the pollution in the wells "can reasonably be expected to create an

unacceptable risk of injury to the health or safety of persons using such

groundwater as a public or private source of water for drinking or other

personal or domestic uses."

Because the state has been "unable to determine the person or municipality

responsible" for the pollution, the DEP ordered the town of Newtown to act.

Most of the pollution has been caused by petrachlorethlene, a solvent used to

clean industrial machines, Mr Cooper said.

The problem came to light about four years ago when the septic tank on the

Dual-Lite property on Simm Lane was discovered to be contaminated. Tests of

the leaching fields and of other properties in the area also found pollution.

But many wells closest to Simm Lane showed no contamination so a hydrogeologic

study is needed to find out whether the Dual-Lite property or some other

property was the source of the problem.

The Dual-Lite divison of General Signal Corporation took over the property in

1987. It leases the property from Insilco Corporation, formerly known as the

International Silver Company, which operated the site for many years. Last

February the state reached an agreement with Insilco for a $2 million cleanup

of the Simm Lane property as part of a multi-million dollar bankruptcy

reorganization. Insilco filed in US District Court in San Antonio, Texas, for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

"The problems that we are finding out now may be the result of things that

happened 15 to 20 years ago," Mr Cooper said. He said the pollution may

continue to travel through the groundwater, eventually affecting other wells,

so monitoring will continue.

Roberta Jones, who lives at 19 Appleblossom Lane, told The Bee that her well

tested pure in July but she is concerned that the ongoing drought could have

brought pollutants into her water supply since then. She said she was told by

the DEP that it would be re-testing several homes on Appleblossom Lane this

week.

Homes with water supplies that showed low levels of contamination are being

supplied with potable water for drinking and cooking but may use their well

for such activities as taking showers and washing clothes, Mr Cooper said.

"For those homes that greatly exceed the `action level,' whole house filters

have been installed," he said.

Mr Cascella said the town must do an engineering study to determine the source

of the contaminants and must come up with a solution.

"The solution probably will be to put in city water to those houses," he said.

The project is similar to one that involved four homes on Queen Street near

Mile Hill Road about five years ago. The town supplied these homeowners with

potable water until they could be hooked into the town's water mains.