Dutchess to get tough on water
Plan to look at needs of wells

By Dan Shapley Poughkeepsie Journal Sunday, January 9, 2004

Dutchess County will spend $147,000 in 2005 in an effort to better protect its water supply.

The seven-point initiative came out of the Dutchess County Legislature's Environment & Community Development Committee, headed by Shannon Martin LaFrance, R-Fishkill.

The plan, to a large extent, will tackle goals set in a 1997 Dutchess County Water Supply Protection Strategy that remains in draft form. Parts of the plan have been implemented over the years, but this marks the first attempt to address the goals comprehensively, people involved said. ''These initiatives will help us be proactive to prevent problems,'' LaFrance said.

Contamination in several neighborhoods in recent years has highlighted the need to ensure that drinking water is safe in a county where approximately 40 percent of residents draw water from privately owned, individual wells. And fast-paced development has raised concerns about the land's capacity to supply enough water for a burgeoning population.

The $147,000 will pay to:

- Update and educate about a 1982 study on protecting wells from being contaminated by septic systems. Depending on the soil, septic systems can contaminate nearby wells with bacteria, so zoning laws should ensure homes are not built too close together. - Update and educate about a 1992 study on ensuring groundwater remains plentiful and is not contaminated as open land is developed. Pavement and rooftops prevent water from naturally replenishing groundwater supplies, and runoff can contaminate nearby streams and groundwater.

- Continue to monitor groundwater so officials can alert residents when droughts might drain individual wells.

- Create a publicly accessible database with water data, including available information about contamination.

- Tally petroleum bulk storage tanks in the county. That is necessary if the county is to take over the state's job of regulating petroleum storage. Leaking underground gasoline station tanks led to widespread contamination in the Greenbush area of Hyde Park and elsewhere in the county.

- Evaluate areas prone to contamination by road salt.

- Educate communities and the public. Land use decisions rest with local officials.

 

One resident whose water has been contaminated with the chemical solvent trichloroethylene saw some things to like and some things to criticize in the plan. Betty Hicks, who works in real estate, lives north of Hopewell Junction, where polluted water was discovered almost two years ago.

She bristled at spending taxpayer money to update studies, but liked any initiative that puts new information about water quality into the hands of residents and home buyers. She wanted to see information made public, particularly, about where all hazardous chemicals -- not just petroleum products -- are stored, used and disposed of.

''This is no longer a minor little issue,'' Hicks said. ''This is life-impacting, and I think the public has the right to know -- without being contaminated first.''

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