“They have a really, really serious problem over there.” That was the assessment Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman offered last week on water quality in the Clancy area. “I hate to use the word crisis because that seems too extreme,” said County Sanitarian Megan Bullock, but she added that the situation is serious and needs to be addressed. Clancy has no community water or sewer system, with residents relying on private wells.
Private wells normally are not regulated, but concerns that began years ago has resulted in the testing of about 25 wells in the area, some as many as five times between December 2016 and July of this year. Nitrate levels in the water in areas between the Clancy school and Interstate 15, basically following the community’s main street, are “high enough to be fatal for babies,” Bullock said.
Generally, babies under six months of age are at the highest risk, she said. High nitrate levels “rob oxygen from the blood,” she said, and can also be especially dangerous for pregnant women. Adults with chronic heart and lung issues are also at increased risk, said Bullock.
Also found to be elevated in the water are uranium levels, said Bullock. Water has tested 37 percent above the Environmental Protection Agency’s maximum contaminant level of 30 parts per million, she said. High uranium levels can lead to kidney issues, she said. Despite what officials say is a serious situation, a community forum on the issue September 26 attracted few community residents, said Bullock and the commissioners.
In spite of a quarterly newsletter throughout the district, a newspaper notice, the lure of snacks and a drawing for a dinner certificate, and door to door visits reminding folks of the upcoming meeting, only an estimated 15 individuals showed up from a district that includes about 89 residences. Residents of the area have been advised to drink bottled water, said Bullock.
There are few acceptable options for dealing with the water other than developing a community water system and using bottled water for now, she said. Boiling the water only concentrates the contaminants, and reverse osmosis produces high volumes of waste, something that will not work well in a concentrated population area, she said.
Efforts to form a water and sewer district in Clancy have been underway for five years. A preliminary engineering report was done in 2012, primarily due to concerns about a congested area of Clancy along Old Alhambra Road where lots were too small to allow enough separation between septic systems and water wells. As part of the process of getting grant funding for the effort, an income survey was sent out to residents, but too few were returned to be acceptable, said Bullock. At that point, officials thought a community sewer system but not a water system would be needed, she said.
When the income survey response fell short, officials decided to step back and do some more education and more testing, she said. It was in that process that the water results arose. Surprising- ly, said Bullock, the original area of interest on Old Alhambra Road proved not to have water contaminant levels as high as the area through Clancy’s downtown.
Bullock said Montana Tech professors and students have been assisting with the testing and “the Montana Tech professors are quite concerned.” Neither they nor engineers involved have ever seen such high levels, she said. The studies have produced some baffling results, said Bullock. One more round of water sampling is anticipated and results from a Candian lab looking into Isotopes are expected soon, something that may clarify the source of the elevated levels.
According to the Water Quality Association, potential factors contributing to high nitrate levels include fertilizer use, population density, soil drainage, depth to the water table and the presence of sand or gravel aquifers.
Another income survey is also planned, hoping for a better return rate. Without that, it will be difficult if not impossible to move forward. “It’s so critical,” Bullock said of the need to get the surveys back. A citizen board has been working diligently to address the issue, but that board is pretty much stymied without more participation by area citizens, Bullock said.
Bullock emphasized that since private wells are not regulated like public water systems, the testing has only been done on wells where residents agreed to participate. Many other residents could have water issues without being aware of it, she said.
She said test bottles are available from her office, along with informational brochures and fact sheets.
As for the wastewater issues that initially triggered the concerns, “We’re not going to lose sight of the wastewater,” said Bullock, “but right now we’ve got to get the water figured out so that people have safe drinking water.” The next meeting of the Clancy Water and Sewer District Board is Tuesday, October 24, at 6:30 p.m. at the Clancy Library meeting room.
