Update: Residents in the Heywood Avenue neighborhood in West Springfield can use their tap water again, as of Thursday evening. Officials said the culprit of oil-like substance was a private plumbing system being pushed back into the municipal supply. A device was installed to prevent the problem from taking place again.
Residents of a West Springfield, Massachusetts, neighborhood are still under orders from the state not to use their tap water after an oil-like substance was discovered in it Tuesday.
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued a do-not-use order to those in the area around Heywood Avenue after receiving word from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency of “a potential cross-connection breach” — a back flow of untreated water. In its order, the department said the situation "could pose an unacceptable risk to public health unless immediate action is taken.”
It’s unclear when the order will be lifted. In an email late Thursday afternoon, MassDEP spokesperson Ed Coletta said that there was a “visible sheen” in the water when West Springfield began flushing the hydrant nearest to the buildings on Heywood Avenue where the oil-like substance was first reported. He said officials took water samples and issued the do-not-use order establishing the “precautionary isolation zone.”
Samples have now come back positive for several “volatile organic compounds,” he said.
“Several VOCs (acetone and 2 trihalomethanes) were detected in the sample from the hydrant nearest the building that first reported having oily substance in its tap water,” Coletta said. “All results are well below health standards. VOCs were not detected in the up or downstream hydrants.”
Coletta said officials discovered an unprotected cross-connection at 49 Heywood Street, one of the first affected buildings, and that “the substance was most concentrated at 49 Heywood and that the unprotected cross-connection was the source.”
“West Springfield removed the meter from 49 Heywood to create an air gap,” he said. “It will not be reconnected until a cross-connection device is installed and tested. MassDEP is investigating the incident and may lift the order based on sample results."
The possible contamination of the neighborhood’s water has left residents like Kathleen Curran using bottled water for everything. She said she’s doing OK, though she’s more concerned for families who have children. She said she called a few of her neighbors to make sure they heard the news.
“All in all, we're managing,” she said Thursday. “If it goes on any longer, I might have a different comment.”
Down the street, Vincent Palsa said it found the situation more annoying than concerning.
“I've been going over to family's houses to get a shower, and you know, brush my teeth, all of that,” he said. “Other than that, I have to use a bottle of water.”
The West Springfield Fire Department had handed out more than 5,700 water bottles by Thursday afternoon, according to Lt. Tony Spear. He said a lot of people who have come to the department to pick up water have expressed concerns.
“They have questions,” he said. “They want to know when the water’s going to be back, when they’re going to have services —questions we don’t really have the answer to here at the fire department. That’s usually a water department thing.”
Neighborhood resident Betty Malaguti said she was thankful for the fire department and city officials working to solve the problem. She said she’s confident they’ll rectify the issue.
“You know, I used to camp before with my sweetheart and my son,” Malaguti said when asked how she’s managing using only bottled water.
“This is just like camping,” she continued with a laugh, "but you’re only at home.”
The area under the do-not-use order includes: Lowell Street, Windsor Street, Bosworth Street, Baldwin Street, Norman Street, Allston Avenue, Heywood Avenue, Roanoke Avenue, Cold Spring Avenue, Colony Road, York Street, Exposition Terrace, Exposition Avenue, River Street and Memorial Avenue from Lowell Street to Colony Road.
