“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.
