Arsenic in water problem continues

ATHOL - After nearly two years in the works, a solution for a well contaminated with arsenic that serves a housing area north of Athol remains elusive.

Jay and Bob Gridley, owners of the Lynnwood Estates water system, are under a consent order with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to bring the system into compliance with the arsenic maximum contaminant level of 10 parts per billion prior to Dec. 31.

The water system serves 18 homes and 43 people just north of Athol and east of U.S. 95. The problem does not pertain to the city of Athol itself.

While the homeowners, the Gridleys, IDEQ, attorneys and others met Tuesday and plan to do so again in two weeks, a resolution date remains unclear.

After researching options to meet arsenic standards, the water system owners decided to install filtration treatment at each residence at the kitchen tap, said Suzanne Scheidt, IDEQ's drinking water program supervisor.

But that's where things get sticky.

Scheidt said that, in order for IDEQ to approve the treatment, water user participation must be 100 percent and the filtration units must be owned and maintained by the water system owner/operator.

As such, IDEQ requires water users to sign access agreements to allow the units to be maintained and tested by the system's operator.

"The owners must provide the department with a mechanism in which the owners will address non-compliance," Scheidt said.

She said that, if owners choose to not allow access, the only other option is to discontinue water service to those users as the owners are not able to provide water that meets arsenic standards.

The Gridleys did not return a phone message seeking comment.

Homeowner Billy Campbell, who lives on Cougar Hill Road, said the Gridleys have tried to have the homeowners take over the well, but the residents don't want it.

"Now they're telling us that we have to join their water association and we're refusing to do so," Campbell said. "They're trying to force us into the homeowners' association so they can get out from underneath the well."

Recent arsenic tests have been at 60 ppb and were as high as 91 ppb last summer. Others have been closer to the maximum threshold.

The federal limit for arsenic was formerly 50 ppb, but it was reduced to 10 in 2006. In April 2010 the well exceeded the annual arsenic average for the first time, according to IDEQ. The following fall, the water registered 9.8 ppb, flirting with the federal maximum.

However, last year the numbers spiked and residents were warned not to drink the water. IDEQ then issued an order to fix the problem.

Campbell has been buying bottled water. He envisions selling his home and moving back to Montana to retire, but doesn't believe he'll be able to sell it if the water problem doesn't get resolved.

A filter in each home would not be the perfect solution, Campbell said. It needs regular maintenance, and one drinking water supply for an entire family isn't convenient.

"The only way to fix it is if the Gridleys buy a new well," he said. "Our places are basically worthless."

Scheidt said multiple locations were looked at to drill a replacement well.

"Unfortunately, well lots have been unavailable or cost-prohibitive in areas where arsenic contamination is known to be a non-issue," she said.

Centralized treatment at the well source was cost-prohibitive and a connection to a neighboring private water system was turned down by that system's board, Scheidt said.

"Consideration of other well lots was deemed too risky by the owners due to the potential for arsenic contamination," she said.

Scheidt said the Gridleys hired an engineer to review their options and have worked with IDEQ on the options.

Sen. Steve Vick, R-Dalton Gardens, was asked to attend the last meeting between both sides. He said filing an extension to the deadline is a possibility if a solution can't be reached.

He said one of the hurdles is that no one wants to own the well. The Gridleys are willing to pay for the filtration units if the owners take over the well, he said.

Raising the water rates is a possibility and a new well could cost $100,000, which would cost each home nearly $5,000.

"I don't see a real easy solution at the moment," Vick said.