Residents still unhappy with well-fix offer

Those with contaminated wells from the state’s salt storage facility feel the most recent offer was no better than the last one.

By: Linda Seida
   WEST AMWELL — Township property owners along Route 179 whose wells were contaminated by the state Department of Transportation’s road salt storage facility wanted a better remediation deal than the agency offered them last month, but what they got recently was an offer for more of the same.
   The DOT offered in September to install a reverse osmosis system at one point of entry in each dwelling and 10 years of maintenance.
   A reverse osmosis system, often referred to as an RO, filters out many impurities and contaminants by using pressure to force water through a semi-permeable membrane. It can treat an entire house or just a single of entry, which is what the DOT is offering.
   In another meeting with property owners and township officials last week, DOT Deputy Commissioner Stephen Dilts said the agency would add the "possibility" of renewing the maintenance agreement after 10 years.
   "I can’t commit the state forever," he said.
   The DOT also offered to make available its consultant on reverse osmosis systems, Bill Butler of the Duff Company of Norristown, Pa.
   It was unclear how many of the approximately 10 property owners were interested in meeting with the consultant. Several clearly were not swayed a reverse osmosis system would be a satisfactory and permanent fix.
   Ralph Hooven, who owns a four-unit rental property, said: "I’m not going to accept an RO as a permanent fix on my property. Period. I’ll accept an RO as a temporary fix. I don’t think there’s any problem with an RO as a Band-Aid."
   Judy Nanni, whose well has tested among the highest levels for sodium and chloride, and Mr. Hooven said selling their properties now at a decent price would be next to impossible.
   "I wouldn’t be able to give that property away," Mr. Hooven said.
   Ms. Nanni said, "I really feel I’m backed into a corner. This is something I didn’t ask for. This is something that happened to me."
   But Mr. Butler, the reverse osmosis consultant hired by the state, said homes that sport reverse osmosis systems are selling "every day of the week."
   Asked outright by Ms. Nanni if the state would buy the contaminated properties, Mr. Dilts said no.
   The well of a former township mayor, John Cronce, also may be contaminated. Mr. Cronce, who attended the meeting last week, advised township officials to have their own experts on hand during future negotiations with the state.
   "My feeling right now is it’s awfully heavy on the state side," Mr. Cronce said, adding that West Amwell should populate the negotiation table with its own engineer and its own hydrogeology expert. "Why don’t we have somebody that’s in our court and let (the DOT) pay for it? The theory is, they’ll say anything to protect themselves, which is true."
   "As an ex-mayor, I almost take offense, other than I know you didn’t mean it that way," said Mr. Dilts, who formerly served as the mayor of Hampton. He said he’s not lying to protect the DOT and brought a member of the Department of Environmental Protection to the table.
   A bureau chief from the DEP, which regulates the DOT, did, in fact, attend the meeting last week. Vincent Monaco, chief of the DEP’s bureau of water systems and well permitting, told property owners the reverse osmosis system offered by the DOT is the best way to solve the problem.
   Mr. Cronce asked if the DOT would pay for the township’s own consultants since the DOT’s supply of road salt caused the contamination.
   "I think you’re adding another level of cost, time and study," Mr. Dilts said. "I don’t think that’s necessary. Right now, I’m saying no."
   State officials also said a request that a water line be run to the affected properties would be costly and time-consuming. The water line is at least a mile from the contaminated properties and is not adequately designed.
   Such a project also would require permits from the DEP and additional supplies from United Water, and other road blocks also exist, Mr. Monaco said.
   Mr. Dilts said it likely would cost $3 million to hook up residents to the public water supply.
   "In the next couple of years, I don’t think anybody’s going to be able to deliver that to you," he said.
   The DOT raised the issue of "cost analysis," a ratio of benefit to cost for the remediation. That raised the ire of West Amwell Mayor Tom Molnar.
   Mayor Molnar said at no time was "cost analysis" ever mentioned when the state stepped in to remediate the contamination of three township properties by West Amwell’s own supply of road salt several years ago. That remediation is ongoing and has cost the township $1.2 million so far for the three contaminated properties, he said.
   Mayor Molnar told the DOT, "You mentioned $3 million earlier. You’ve got a dozen houses and two schools. You’re getting a deal."